MORE Act

Growers and importers would pay the tax when products leave the plant. It starts at 5% of that price, reaches 8% in the fourth year, then switches to a set rate per ounce. Buyers would likely see it in the shelf price.

Cannabis use could not cost you a federal benefit. Neither could a cannabis conviction. That covers help like food aid, housing aid, and student loans.

Half of the tax money would go to nonprofit groups in places hit hardest by drug arrests. They would offer job training, reentry help, legal aid to clear records, and addiction care.

Agencies could not weigh cannabis use when they grant or pull a security clearance. Past use would not count either. Many federal and contractor jobs need one.

Dropping marijuana from the drug schedules would not end testing. Truck drivers, pilots, rail workers, and transit workers stay on the test list. Health officials could keep testing federal staff too.

To win these grants, a state must adopt four of five fairness rules. One bars licensed cannabis shops from testing staff without cause. Safety-sensitive jobs are left out.

Federal law lists the crimes that can support a wiretap order. Marijuana would be struck from that list, and from the matching rule for state wiretaps.

Immigration law would stop treating cannabis as a drug offense. No one could lose a visa or a green card over it. The same goes for protection from deportation. Old cases count too.

Growing for your own or your family's use, not for sale, would be left out. No federal permit, bond, or tax would apply. State and local laws still would.

Cheating on the new cannabis tax, or selling untaxed product, would become a federal crime. Fines could reach $10,000 with up to five years in prison. Skipping the $1,000 yearly business tax on purpose carries up to two years.

Marijuana and THC would come off the federal drug schedules. The Attorney General would have 180 days to finish the rule. Drug penalties tied to marijuana would be wiped from the books.

Every federal district would review its old records. Courts would wipe out convictions for non-violent cannabis crimes back to May 1, 1971. Arrest records would be sealed. Leaders and organizers of an offense would not qualify.

People serving time, parole, or release terms for these crimes could ask for a hearing. A judge would erase the conviction. Any time left would be set as if this law had always been in place.

The Small Business Administration could not turn away a legal cannabis firm. Neither could its lenders. Firms that only sell goods to the trade are covered too. It reaches loans, disaster aid, and free counseling.

A new program would lend to cannabis owners who were hurt by drug arrests. It would offer hands-on help too. A fifth of the tax money would pay for it. Only states that clear old cannabis records would qualify.

Every producer, importer, and export warehouse would need a federal permit and a bond before opening. Each site would owe $1,000 a year. Records and stock would be open to tax inspectors.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics would track who owns and works in the trade. The data would cover age, race, sex, and veteran status. Names and addresses would stay private.

Three agencies write the rules here: Treasury, Justice, and the Small Business Administration. After the first year, they could not post new cannabis guidance without a heads-up to Congress. The notice is due 60 days ahead and must say why.