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1 1 (November 25, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdctt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * Congessoa Research Servi The MORE Act: House Plans Historic Vote on Federal Marijuana Legalization November 25, 2020 In December 2020, the House of Representatives plans to vote on H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019 (MOREAct). The MORE Act is also pending before the Senate. Among other things, the MORE Act would remove marijuana from the schedules of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), legalizing many marijuana-related activities at the federal level. Commentators have noted that a vote on the MORE Act would be the first time the full House voted on a proposal to deschedule marijuana. This Legal Sidebar briefly summarizes the legal status of marijuana in the United States. It then outlines key provisions of the MORE Act before discussing selected considerations for Congress related to the bill. The Legal Status of Marijuana Under federal law, the plant Cannabis s ativa L. and products derived from that plant are generally classified as marifuana, with a couple of exceptions. (The statute uses an archaic spelling, marihuana, that was more common when Congress enacted the CSAin 1970, but this Sidebar uses the currently accepted spelling, marijuana.) One key exception relates to hetnlp, a legal classification that includes cannabis and cannabis-derived products containing very low levels of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta- 9 tetrahydroc annabinol (THC). Hemp is not a controlled substance subject to the CSA, though it remains subject to other federal laws. Congress classified marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance when it enacted the CSA, meaning that marijuana is subject to the most stringent level of federal control. Congress's decision to place marijuana in Schedule I reflects a legislative finding that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medicaluse, and a lack of accepted safety for use . .. under medical supervision. Under the CSA, it is legal to manufacture, distribute, and possess Schedule I controlled substances such as marijuana only in the context of federally approved research studies, subject to exacting regulatory requirements designed to prevent abuse and diversion. Unauthorized activities involving marijuana are criminal offenses; depending on the activity at issue and the amount of marijuana involved, such offenses may give rise to large fines and lengthy prison sentences. In sharp contrast to the strict federal control of marijuana, many states take a more permissive approach to marijuana regulation. While every state once banned marijuana, in recent decades many states have Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10556 CRS Legal Siebar Prepared for Membersand CC --mmi- - --oe Cong ress-----------------------------------

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