Civil rights group gets behind marijuana reform

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Pressure continues to build for federal lawmakers to make some permanent changes

A number of advocacy groups are starting to come together to support a cause that has become one of the most popular topics today. As federal lawmakers discuss a number of different bills related to the marijuana industry, advocates are lining up to put pressure on them to make changes, and a major coalition of civil rights groups has now joined the fight, imploring legislators to support a bill that would deschedule cannabis and increase attention to social equity.

The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights (LCCHR), a group comprised of over 200 national organizations, has sent a letter to lawmakers asking them to sponsor the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. Among those involved are the Leadership Conference, the ACLU and the Drug Policy Alliance, all of whom want the MORE Act to be dealt with before any progress is made on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.

The alliance recognizes the important role the SAFE Act has, but believes it doesn’t go far enough. In its letter to House lawmakers, the group stated that it was “an incremental step toward rolling back the federal war on marijuana” and that its approval by the House “signals a positive shift in House members’ attitudes toward marijuana.” However, the civil rights advocates added that it “lacks provisions to help communities that have been historically and disproportionately devastated by United States’ punitive drug laws.”

The MORE Act is going to be put to a vote soon, according to its sponsor and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler. The LCCHR adds in its letter, “We strongly urge you to join Chairman Nadler and other congressional leaders as a co-sponsor of the MORE Act and to be a part of this historic opportunity to address the decades of harm faced by communities of color and low-income communities due to failed marijuana policies.”