On November 30, ASAM sent a letter to congressional leadership opposing the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019, which would, among other things, completely remove cannabis from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The letter notes that while ASAM strongly opposes that aspect of the MORE Act, ASAM supports passage of comprehensive federal legislation that would end the United States’ historically punitive approach to prohibiting cannabis use while striking a more appropriate balance between federal and state regulation.

Specifically, the letter draws attention to ASAM’s new public policy statement on cannabis, which contains recommendations that would protect public health and mitigate the risks of cannabis use. The letter observes that while decriminalization of cannabis will have significant public health benefits due to decreased arrests and incarcerations, it is vital that the federal government create a regulatory framework to mitigate the verified risks of cannabis use. Therefore, the letter urges Congress to pass federal legislation that would give the federal government a more prominent role in the regulation of cannabis to ensure that states that do legalize cannabis do so utilizing models that adequately protect the public health. 

Read the letter here.

Read ASAM's policy statement on cannabis here.

Read the bill here. 

December 4, 2020 Update:  The U.S. House passed the MORE Act on December 4, 2020 with a 228 to 164 vote, largely along party lines.