[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 204 (Thursday, December 3, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H6058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        DECRIMINALIZING CANNABIS

  (Mr. EVANS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, in my city of Philadelphia and across the 
country, people of color are thrown in jail more and with harsher 
sentences than White people for the same cannabis-related crimes.
  Cannabis is one of the fastest growing U.S. industries, but Federal 
law keeps many businesses of color out of this market. That is why I 
urge my colleagues to support passage of a jobs bill, the MORE Act. It 
would decriminalize cannabis at the Federal level and expunge prior 
Federal convictions related to marijuana. Half of all States have 
already decriminalized cannabis.
  This jobs bill would also create the opportunity trust fund, which 
would generate grant programs to provide services and funds to those 
most negatively impacted by the war on drugs. This includes the 
equitable cannabis licensing program that I introduced in the Homegrown 
Act.
  The House and Senate need to pass the MORE Act now, as the growing 
cannabis industry is an important economic development tool for 
communities of color like mine. Let's pass this jobs bill.

                          ____________________