Federal cannabis legalization with tax-funded reinvestment in communities harmed by drug war
H.R. 5068 — MORE Act · Filed by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) · 74 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 29, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill removes marijuana from the federal controlled substances schedule, making it legal under federal law. It imposes a federal excise tax on cannabis products (starting at 5% and rising to 8% over five years), creates an Opportunity Trust Fund from tax revenues to fund criminal justice reinvestment and small business support for communities harmed by drug enforcement, expunges prior cannabis convictions, and requires demographic tracking of cannabis industry workers and owners. The bill preserves federal employee drug testing and transportation safety regulations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is federal legalization of cannabis (removing it from Schedule I), paired with a federal excise tax and a reinvestment mechanism targeting communities harmed by prior enforcement. This is not a simple deregulation—it is a legalization-plus-taxation-plus-reinvestment framework designed to address racial and economic inequities in the cannabis market.
What the text implies
- Federal excise tax (5–8%) will increase cannabis prices for all consumers, potentially offsetting some of the public-health and equity benefits of legalization by maintaining barriers to access for lower-income users.
- Bonding, permitting, and licensing requirements (Subchapter C) create regulatory barriers that may favor large, well-capitalized firms over small entrepreneurs, potentially limiting the equity gains the bill aims to achieve despite explicit findings about minority underrepresentation.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Licensed cannabis producers and importers (subject to excise tax but operating in newly legal market; Cannabis retailers and distributors; Small Business Administration (receives 20% of tax revenues for minority business support)