House Committee Approves Cannabis Descheduling Bill
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by removing it from the controlled substances list. The bill, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, H.R. 3884, would expunge previous marijuana convictions and levy a 5% federal tax on marijuana to assist minority business owners in entering the legal cannabis business. A companion bill has been introduced by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), but the bill has little chance of becoming law with the Republican-controlled Senate. But the SAFE Banking Act, which passed the House in September and would allow banks to do business with legal cannabis companies, may have a chance.