Congress Must Repair the Extensive Damage Caused by Prohibition by Passing the MORE Act this Week
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) was joined by dozens of internationally-recognized musicians, actors, artists, athletes, influencers and advocates in calling on members of Congress to support equitable marijuana reform by passing the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment & Expungement (MORE) Act (H.R. 3884) when it comes up for a vote on the House floor later this week.
The letter–signed by the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ty Dolla $ign, Matt Barnes, and Baby Bash–points out that reforming our federal marijuana laws is key to reducing the racial disparities that exist within the criminal legal system—as Black people are almost four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana despite almost equal use across race—and providing economic opportunity to those that have been disproportionately harmed by prohibition, yet continually left out of the legal marijuana economy.
“We are grateful to have the support of these notable figures, who are using their platform to demand justice for those impacted by marijuana criminalization,” said Queen Adesuyi, Policy Manager for the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Marijuana prohibition continues to rob communities of color and low-income people of economic opportunity, security, their freedom and even their safety. The time to end this decades-long assault and begin building these communities back up is long overdue. And while the MORE Act will not undo their pain, it is the most significant opportunity we have had to date to begin to right these wrongs and prevent further injustice.”
After the scheduled September House floor vote was delayed, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer announced Friday that the vote would take place sometime this week between Wednesday, December 2 and Friday, December 4.
