“Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019”

The More Act passed the House Dec 4, 2020.  There appears to be a lot of misunderstanding in the CPP community as to what this bill can do for them if it could just be passed into law.  I will try to explain how important this is.

First, the introductory description of the bill is:

To decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses.

The bill was first introduced July 23, 2019 by Jerry Nadler of New York and was cosponsored by 119 others.

Congress has identified the following:

• 47 States have reformed their laws pertaining to cannabis despite the Schedule I status of marijuana and its Federal criminalization, including 11 States and the District of Columbia, that have adopted laws legalizing cannabis for adult recreational use.
• Legal cannabis sales totaled $9.5 billion in 2017 and are projected to reach $23 billion by 2022.
• The communities most harmed by cannabis prohibition are benefiting the least from the legal marijuana marketplace.
• A legacy of racial and ethnic injustices from 80 years of cannabis prohibition enforcement, now limits participation in the industry.
• Enforcing cannabis prohibition laws costs taxpayers approximately $3.6 billion a year, results in over 600,000 arrests annually, disproportionately impacting people of color who are almost 4 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than their White counterparts, despite equal rates of use across populations.
• People of color have been historically targeted by discriminatory sentencing practices with sentences 13.1 percent longer than sentences for White men.
• Applicants for cannabis licenses are limited by numerous laws, regulations, and exorbitant permit applications, licensing fees, and costs in these States, which can require more than $700,000.

DECRIMINALIZATION OF CANNABIS.

Cannabis is removed from the Controlled Substance Act entirely.  It is moved from a Schedule 1 (no medical or other use) to the status of a vegetable in your garden.  No restrictions, no law involved in its use.

 REMOVAL FROM SCHEDULE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall remove marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols from the schedules of controlled substances. Marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols shall each be deemed to be a drug or other substance that does not meet the requirements for inclusion in any schedule.

This change in schedule will affect any offense committed, case pending, conviction entered, before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.

Marijuana is struck from all federal laws such as:

(1) The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801)

(2) National Forest System Drug Control act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 559)

CREATION OF OPPORTUNITY TRUST FUND AND IMPOSITION OF TAX ON CANNABIS PRODUCTS.

A trust fund is created with the proceeds of the tax on cannabis products. The trust fund will be used to carry out

• Section 3052(a) and (b) of part OO of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
• Section 6(b)(1) and (2)  of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019.

Tax on cannabis products will be 5% of the sales price. Cannabis product does not include any medicine or drug that is a prescribed drug.

OPPORTUNITY TRUST FUND PROGRAMS.

There is established within the Office of Justice Programs a Cannabis Justice Office to award grants and enter into compacts, cooperative agreements, and contracts.

Community Reinvestment Grant Program—Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“PART OO—COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM

To provide eligible entities with funds to administer services for individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, including—

(1) job training;

(2) reentry services;

(3) legal aid for civil and criminal cases, including expungement of cannabis convictions;

(4) literacy programs;

(5) youth recreation or mentoring programs;

(6) health education programs; and

(7) services to address any collateral consequences that individuals or communities face as a result of the War on Drugs.

Substance Use Treatment Services.—The Community Reinvestment Grant Program shall provide eligible entities with funds to administer substance use treatment services for individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.

Cannabis Opportunity Program; Equitable Licensing Grant Program.—

(1)  The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall provide any eligible State or locality funds to make loans under section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 363(m)) to assist small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)) that operate in the cannabis industry.

Cannabis licensing programs shall minimize barriers to cannabis licensing and employment for individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.  This includes

(1) Waiving application fees for individuals with an income below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level for at least 5 of the past 10 years who are first-time applicants.

(2) Prohibition on the denial of a cannabis license based on a conviction for a cannabis offense

(3) Licensing board that is reflective of the racial, ethnic, economic, and gender composition of the State or locality.

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS AND SERVICES TO CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.

The services of small business development centers cannot discriminate against cannabis-related businesses or decline to provide services provided to other small businesses.  This includes loans.

NO DISCRIMINATION IN THE PROVISION OF A FEDERAL PUBLIC BENEFIT ON THE BASIS OF CANNABIS.

No person may be denied any Federal public benefit on the basis of any use or possession of cannabis, or on the basis of a conviction for a cannabis offense, by that person.

Federal agencies may not use past or present cannabis or marijuana use as criteria for granting, denying, or rescinding a security clearance.

NO ADVERSE EFFECT FOR PURPOSES OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS.

For purposes of the immigration laws, cannabis may not be considered a controlled substance, An alien may not be denied any benefit or protection under the immigration laws based on any event, including conduct, addiction or abuse, an arrest, or a conviction, relating to cannabis, regardless of whether the event occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

SEC. 10. RESENTENCING AND EXPUNGEMENT.

Anyone convicted of a Federal cannabis offence can have their record expunged. That means wiped off the record.  The Federal districts will expunge all juvenile convictions. Any individual with a prior conviction of a cannabis offense may file a motion for expungement. All records will then be sealed. Any individual currently incarcerated for a cannabis offense will have their record reviewed by the court that sentenced them and their record shall be expunged

Effect Of Expungement.—An individual who has had an arrest, a conviction, or juvenile delinquency adjudication expunged

(1) may treat the arrest, conviction, or adjudication as if it never occurred; and

(2) shall be immune from any civil or criminal penalties related to perjury, false swearing, or false statements, for a failure to disclose such arrest, conviction, or adjudication.

(e) Study.—The Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, shall conduct a demographic study of individuals convicted of a Federal cannabis offense. Such study shall include information about the age, race, ethnicity, sex, and gender identity of those individuals, the type of community such users dwell in, and such other demographic information as the Comptroller General determines should be included.

This study shall be reported to Congress not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The Comptroller General of the United States shall, not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, provide to Congress a study that addresses the societal impact of the legalization of recreational cannabis by States, including—

sick days reported; workers compensations claims; tax revenue; changes in government spending related to enforcement actions and court proceedings; Federal welfare assistance applications; rate of arrests related to methamphetamine possession; hospitalization rates related to methamphetamine and narcotics use; uses of marijuana and its byproducts for medical purposes; DUI arrest rates for marijuana; violent crime rates; school suspensions, expulsions, referrals that are marijuana-related; high school dropout rates; marijuana-related hospital admissions; marijuana-related juvenile admittances into mental health clinics; and court filings under a State’s organized crime statutes.

So what does this mean for the chronic pain patient?  It is the first step in the descheduling of ALL drugs and the end of attacks on opioids. We just have to show the country (and the world) that the attack on drugs has been a racist agenda since it began.  Cannabis, a useful medicine for lots of problems such as cancer, has been criminalized simply to put people of color in prison. Once the benefits of cannabis is realized in the medical world, it is a small step to realize the same about opioids.  Without this amazing and incredible change in federal policy, CPPs can forget about opioids. And if other advocacy groups don’t work with me to this realization, it pretty much shows where their basic interests lie.  If you are a member of another advocacy group and not Doctors (and Patients) of Courage, you need to rethink your purpose.  Is it to restore opioids to pain management?  We hold the key on DoC.

So what needs to happen?  The Senate must pass this bill before the end of this session, or it all starts over again.  Mitch McConnell is supposedly not going to bring it to a vote. Everyone needs to email/message/tweet to all Senators that this bill needs to be passed, or their job will be forfeited at the next election. They WILL vote on it if there is enough pressure.  But if CPPs just sit back and stay negative, welllll…you know where your future lies.  So become a member of DoctorsofCourage and have all Senate contacts with a point/click function and bombard them with notice: Do your job or get fired!