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US: House of Representative passed historic federal legalization bill, yet uncertainty about Senate passage

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act in a 228-164 vote. This vote marks the first time in half a century that a chamber of Congress has voted on a bill to end the federal prohibition of cannabis.

The MORE Act is one of the most robust cannabis reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress. If enacted, the MORE Act would end the war on cannabis at the federal level by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act and ending criminal penalties under federal law. 

Statement from Steven Hawkins, executive director at the Marijuana Policy Project: “Friday's vote marks a historic victory for the cannabis policy reform movement. It indicates that federal lawmakers are finally listening to the overwhelming majority of Americans who are in favor of ending prohibition and comes at a critical time as this important measure addresses two key challenges we currently face."

At the same time, there have been some critical voices with regards to this cannabis bill, as it doesn't really set up a federal regulatory framework, but rather it only allows states to carry out cannabis-related business without the interference of federal agencies, and cannabis companies could finally capitalize on state to state movement of goods, as well as tax deduction and easier access to banking. 

Even though the passing of the bill in the House marked a truly historic moment for cannabis, the new law has to still go through the Senate, which currently has a conservative majority - which has historically been quite adverse to cannabis tolerating policies. Yet, there are still some hopes, as the senate under president-elect Joe Biden might be different: all eyes are now on the state of Gerogia, where there will be a run-off between two democrats and two republicans to secure the last two sits of the senate. If the Democrats will be able to win the majority in the 'new' senate, then chances for the MORE act to pass will be very high.