Matt Gaetz joins House Democrats to pass marijuana legalisation bill

The legislation has little to no chance of passing the Senate or becoming law

High From Hemp (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level.

The bill, known as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, was approved by a vote of 220-204, with three Republicans — Reps Matt Gaetz, Tom McClintock and Brian Mast — voting for the legislation.

Two Democrats — Rep Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and Rep Henry Cuellar of Texas — voted against the bill, which removes marijuana from the federal controlled substance act’s list of banned substances and taxes cannabis products at 8 percent.

It would also allow expungement of some marijuana-related federal drug charges and allow cannabis-related businesses to receive federal small business loans.

A similar bill passed the House in 2020 but died in the GOP-controlled Senate, but while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised the bill will get more attention under his leadership, it’s unlikely it will garner the 60 votes needed to break a likely filibuster.