Thanks to US News for this:
The legislation almost certainly won’t pass the Senate, but it marks the latest sign that opposition to legalization around the country is diminishing.
On Friday, December 4, 2020, the House passed a comprehensive reform bill ending federal prohibitions on marijuana in a historic vote that marks the next significant step forward in the growing movement to legalize cannabis in the U.S.
The chamber approved the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, by a vote of 228-164, falling largely along party lines. Five Republicans joined most Democrats in voting for the measure.
The bill removes marijuana from the federal controlled substances list. If eventually passed into law, it would not automatically make recreational marijuana legal nationwide. Individual states would still have to legalize cannabis.
Passing during the waning days of a lame-duck session, the measure is almost certainly dead-on-arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate. But the symbolic victory comes amid a withering of opposition to legalization that has accelerated on the state and federal levels and shows no signs of reversal.
Friday’s vote represents the significant progress made by proponents of marijuana legalization in the last two decades and comes after several states voted to legalize recreational or medical marijuana in November.
Once taboo, support for marijuana legalization is now mainstream among Democratic lawmakers, and is supported by some Republicans. More than two-thirds of Americans support legalization, including a majority of senior citizens and 48% of Republicans overall. Just 20 years ago, only 31% of Americans were in favor of legalization.
Despite being illegal at the federal level, recreational marijuana is currently legal in 11 states as well as the District of Columbia and Guam, and medical marijuana is legal in some form in a majority of the U.S.
Another four states – New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota – voted last month to legalize recreational pot, while Mississippi and South Dakota also approved the drug for medical use.
The act would expunge the criminal records of those with certain marijuana convictions.
