Vermont Receives More Than 400 Prequalification Applications from Cannabis Businesses

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act is still scheduled for a March 30 hearing in the House Rules Committee, but lawmakers have a growing array of amendments to consider.

The legislation, House Bill 3617, received 10 additional proposals (15 amendments total) as of mid-afternoon March 29. The new offerings range from topics of deporting illegal immigrants to cannabis product additives, packaging, funding and more.

One of the amendments was offered by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., whose name has become infamously tied to Washington, D.C.’s, current ban on commercial cannabis sales. Despite district voters approving adult-use cannabis via Initiative 71 in the November 2014 election, a rider, commonly referred to the “Harris rider,” was introduced by Harris the following year, which stripped the district’s elected officials of the power to regulate a retail industry.

RELATED: D.C. Remains on Cannabis Sales Sideline in New Omnibus Bill

Harris, who voted against a previous version of the MORE Act that U.S. House members passed in 2020, now wants to prohibit any portion of the current MORE Act from being carried out until the Comptroller, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Secretary of Transportation “have studied the societal, public health and public safety implications” of enactment of the bill, and until the director of the National Institute of on Drug Abuse has certified that “the societal, public health and public safety benefits of enactment of this bill outweigh the societal, public health and public safety risks.”

That change and others come on the heels of the House Rules Committee announcing March 24 that it plans to take up the MORE Act this week with the legislation calendared for possible floor debate in the full lower chamber thereafter.

RELATED: MORE Act Vote on Deck in U.S. House, Again

The first five amendments to the bill were submitted March 28.

In addition to Harris’ proposed amendment, following are nine others that were submitted March 29 for committee consideration:

• Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., submitted a proposal that aims to ensure the MORE Act does not prohibit the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of driving under the influence of cannabis.
• Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., submitted a proposal that aims to prohibit any artificial or natural flavor additive, including any fruit, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, candy, confectionary, menthol or coffee, as part of any combustible, vapor or edible cannabis product.
• Tiffany submitted another proposal that aims to require child-resistant packaging for all cannabis products bearing a warning label which reads: “The Surgeon General has determined pregnant women should not use marijuana, which affects the developing fetus, and is associated with adverse outcomes for newborns including lower birth weight, poor cognitive function, hyperactivity, and other long-term consequences.”
• Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, submitted a proposal that aims to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs while promoting research by removing regulation.
• Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., submitted a proposal that aims to narrow the expungement criteria to exclude “super” kingpins, those convicted of a crime of violence, endanger or sell[MS1] ing to minors, fentanyl trafficking, and more. His amendment also adds a definition for non-violent.
• Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., submitted a proposal that aims to prohibit federal funds from being provided to a state that allows for certain cannabis-related products, including candy, soda, chocolate, ice cream or other “kid-friendly” food or beverages containing THC.
• Lesko submitted another proposal that aims to prohibit funds made available through the MORE Act to be available to states that do not offer education campaigns on cannabis-impaired driving.
• Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, submitted a proposal that aims to add a new section amending section 1015 of the SUPPORT Act to say, beginning for the years after the date of enactment, all of the data collected under that section shall also include the specifics for “marijuana use disorder,” “methamphetamine use disorder,” and any other specific substance use disorders as determined by the Secretary.
• And Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, submitted a proposal that aims to prohibit funds authorized by the MORE Act from being awarded to entities in states in which it is lawful to sell THC-infused alcoholic beverages.

Joining Harris with no votes when the MORE Act previously passed the House, 228-164, in 2020, were Stauber, Latta, Pappas and Lesko, while Burgess did not cast a vote and Tiffany had not been elected yet.