The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, known as the MORE Act, is a federal bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act altogether, erase past federal cannabis convictions, and build a taxed and regulated national market in its place. It is a proposal, not law. The House of Representatives has passed versions of it twice, but the Senate has never voted it through, and as of late 2025 the current version sits in committee in the 119th Congress as H.R.5068.1Congress.gov. H.R.5068 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): MORE Act Nothing described below is in effect. Everything here is what would change if the bill becomes law.
Where the Bill Stands Now
Representative Jerrold Nadler first introduced the MORE Act in 2019. The House passed it in December 2020, the first time either chamber of Congress voted to end federal marijuana prohibition, and passed it again in 2022 as H.R.3617.2Congress.gov. H.R.3617 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): MORE Act Both times the Senate let it die. The current version was referred to multiple House committees in August 2025 and carries an “Introduced” status, meaning it still has to clear committee and floor votes in both chambers before it can reach the president.
The pattern matters for anyone tracking the bill: House support has been durable, Senate movement has not.
Descheduling Is Not the Same as Rescheduling
This is the single most important thing to understand before reading anything else about the MORE Act. The bill proposes descheduling — striking marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act so it is no longer a controlled substance at all. That is a different thing from what the federal government has actually done.
On April 23, 2026, the Department of Justice issued an order placing FDA-approved marijuana products, and marijuana products sold under a qualifying state medical license, into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.3United States Department of Justice. Justice Department Places FDA-Approved Marijuana Products and Products Containing Marijuana Subject to a Qualifying State-issued License in Schedule III A separate administrative hearing on broader Schedule I to Schedule III rescheduling is set to begin June 29, 2026. Even if that broader rescheduling goes through, marijuana stays a federally controlled substance, and several consequences follow:
- Manufacturing, distributing, and possessing recreational marijuana remain federal crimes regardless of state law.4Congress.gov. Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana
- Non-citizens can still face detention, deportation, or inadmissibility findings for cannabis-related conduct.
- Financial institutions still have to file Suspicious Activity Reports on cannabis businesses.
- Quantity-based mandatory minimum sentences tied to marijuana do not disappear when the drug moves to a lower schedule.
The MORE Act would resolve each of these by taking marijuana off the schedules entirely. That is why the reform community treats rescheduling as a partial step and descheduling as the more comprehensive one.
What Federal Descheduling Would Actually Change
Cannabis currently sits in Schedule I alongside heroin and LSD, a classification that treats it as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Removing it from the schedules under 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. ends federal criminal penalties for possessing, growing, and selling the plant.p>
Regulatory authority shifts toward the states. The DEA loses jurisdiction over cannabis-related conduct. The heavy research restrictions that apply to Schedule I substances go away, opening the door for clinical trials and medical studies that have been difficult to conduct for decades. Interstate commerce in cannabis, currently a federal crime even between two states where the plant is legal, becomes permissible.
Expungement of Federal Convictions and Sentencing Review
The bill looks backward as well as forward. It requires federal court districts to identify qualifying federal cannabis convictions and clear them automatically, without the person having to hire a lawyer or file a petition. Records get sealed and pulled from public databases so they cannot be used against people in housing or employment.
For people still serving federal time on cannabis offenses, the bill mandates sentencing review hearings. Judges can vacate or reduce sentences on the basis that the underlying conduct is no longer a federal crime. Eligibility is limited to nonviolent federal offenses directly related to marijuana. Each district has to notify people whose records have been expunged or whose sentences have been changed, so they leave with documentation of their cleared status.
The automatic design is deliberate. Paying an attorney to petition for expungement is a barrier that falls hardest on the people who were most exposed to prior enforcement, and clearing records without requiring individual action is how the bill tries to reach them.
The Federal Excise Tax
The MORE Act creates a new federal excise tax on cannabis products manufactured in or imported into the United States. It phases in:
- Years 1 and 2: 5 percent of the manufacturer’s price
- Year 3: 6 percent
- Year 4: 7 percent
- Year 5 and after: 8 percent
The tax falls on producers and importers rather than on consumers at the counter, though businesses would pass some of the cost along.5Tax Foundation. MORE Act – Federal Taxation of Recreational Marijuana The IRS would develop the reporting forms and filing procedures. The gradual ramp is meant to give the legal industry time to establish itself while competing against an existing illicit market.
The federal excise tax would sit on top of state cannabis taxes, which commonly run between 10 and 25 percent in states with recreational programs. A business in a high-tax state would see a combined burden that affects both retail pricing and competitiveness with the illicit market.
Where the Money Goes: The Opportunity Trust Fund
Revenue from the excise tax flows into a new Opportunity Trust Fund, which supports three grant programs aimed at communities harmed by decades of marijuana enforcement. A Community Reinvestment Grant Program funds job training, legal aid, and youth mentoring through nonprofits already serving those communities. A Cannabis Opportunity Program makes loans to small cannabis businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. An Equitable Licensing Grant Program helps state and local governments design licensing systems that produce diverse ownership rather than concentration among a few large operators. The Department of Justice oversees the reinvestment grants; the Small Business Administration runs the business-facing programs.
What Descheduling Would Do for Cannabis Businesses
Section 280E
Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits any business trafficking in Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substances from deducting ordinary business expenses on its federal return. A legal state-licensed dispensary currently cannot deduct rent, payroll, or marketing. The effective federal tax rate for cannabis businesses can be dramatically higher than for any other legal industry.
The April 2026 rescheduling eliminates 280E for businesses selling FDA-approved marijuana products or operating under a qualifying state medical license.3United States Department of Justice. Justice Department Places FDA-Approved Marijuana Products and Products Containing Marijuana Subject to a Qualifying State-issued License in Schedule III Recreational businesses without a state medical license remain stuck under 280E until marijuana either moves fully to Schedule III through the broader rulemaking or is descheduled entirely.4Congress.gov. Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana The MORE Act’s complete descheduling would end 280E’s reach over every cannabis business regardless of license type.
Banking
Cannabis businesses operating lawfully under state law have long struggled to open bank accounts, process card transactions, or borrow. Banks face potential money laundering exposure for handling proceeds of a federally illegal activity, and FinCEN guidance requires Suspicious Activity Reports on marijuana-related businesses regardless of state legalization.6FinCEN.gov. BSA Expectations Regarding Marijuana-Related Businesses Many operators run largely on cash as a result, with the security and accounting problems that go with it.
Removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act ends the federal illegality that triggers those banking restrictions. A narrower alternative, the SAFER Banking Act, has advanced through the Senate Banking Committee but has not been enacted as of late 2025.
SBA Programs
The Small Business Administration has historically denied all assistance to marijuana-related businesses because of the plant’s federal status. The MORE Act opens SBA lending to cannabis companies, including the 7(a) loan program, the SBA’s primary business lending vehicle providing loan guarantees for equipment, real estate, and working capital,7U.S. Small Business Administration. 7(a) Loans plus 504 loans for major fixed assets, the microloan program, and disaster assistance. It also covers ancillary service providers such as accounting firms, law practices, security companies, and landlords that work with cannabis clients, who have sometimes been denied SBA support simply for their association with the industry.
Immigration Consequences
The gap between rescheduling and descheduling has real, life-altering stakes here. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, any violation of a law relating to a “controlled substance,” as that term is defined by the Controlled Substances Act, can trigger deportation, detention, or a finding of inadmissibility. That definition reaches all five schedules, not just Schedule I. Moving marijuana to Schedule III does not protect non-citizens from immigration penalties for cannabis-related conduct.
USCIS treats involvement with marijuana, including working in a state-licensed cannabis business, as a potential bar to the “good moral character” required for naturalization. Customs and Border Protection retains authority to deny entry or revoke status based on admissions of cannabis use at a port of entry.8Greenspoon Marder LLP. The Schedule III Shift: What Federal Cannabis Reform Means for U.S. Immigration Only complete descheduling, as the MORE Act proposes, removes the statutory basis for these consequences. Until then, non-citizens should treat any cannabis-related activity as an immigration risk even in states where it is fully legal.
What the MORE Act Would Not Change
Federal descheduling does not force any state to legalize marijuana. States that already have recreational or medical programs would see the state-federal conflict disappear. States that keep marijuana illegal can continue to prosecute it under state law, and shipping cannabis from a legal state into a prohibiting state would still violate the receiving state’s laws.
The Food and Drug Administration keeps its authority over products marketed with health claims, food additives, and dietary supplements. The FDA has concluded that existing food and supplement frameworks are not appropriate for CBD and is working with Congress on new pathways.9Food and Drug Administration. FDA Regulation of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products, Including Cannabidiol (CBD) Products intended for human consumption would still have to navigate FDA rules, and medical claims would still require the standard pharmaceutical approval process.
Workplace drug testing is another area where descheduling stops short of a clean sweep. Federal agencies that run mandatory testing programs, including the Department of Transportation, have not announced changes to their testing regulations following the April 2026 rescheduling.10Morgan Lewis. Marijuana Rescheduling Begins: What Employers Need to Know About DOJ’s New Order Workers in safety-sensitive roles, including commercial drivers, airline pilots, and railroad employees, should assume a positive marijuana test remains disqualifying under federal rules until their agency says otherwise. Descheduling removes the Controlled Substances Act as a basis for mandatory testing, but individual agencies can still adopt their own drug-free workplace policies, and private employers in many states retain broad discretion to test.