The MORE Act: Everything You Need to Know (2026)

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, is a proposal to remove cannabis from federal controlled-substance schedules and address some consequences of past cannabis convictions. It has not become law. The current House version is H.R. 5068 in the 119th Congress, introduced by Representative Jerrold Nadler on August 29, 2025. Its legislative tracker remains at the introduced stage.

The September 2023 version, H.R. 5601, belonged to the previous Congress. Readers should follow the current bill rather than treat the earlier proposal as an active route to legalization. Introduction and committee referral do not establish a right to possess cannabis, open a business, obtain federal funding, or clear a criminal record.

What the MORE Act Would Change

The introduced text of H.R. 5068 combines drug-law changes with taxation, business assistance, record relief, and protections relating to public benefits and immigration. These provisions describe what Congress is being asked to enact; they are not benefits currently available under the MORE Act.

Federal Descheduling

The bill would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act’s schedules and make related changes to federal law. Descheduling means removing a substance from that scheduling system. Rescheduling moves a substance between schedules while retaining federal controlled-substance regulation. The MORE Act’s proposal therefore goes beyond changing cannabis’s schedule.

Federal descheduling would not, by itself, make every cannabis transaction lawful under state law. States would retain their own policy choices, including restrictions on possession and commercial activity. The proposal also preserves specified federal employee drug-testing and transportation-safety authorities. It should not be read as a promise of unrestricted workplace use or permission to drive while impaired.

Equity and Community Reinvestment

The proposal would establish an Opportunity Trust Fund and programs intended to support people and communities affected by drug enforcement. Community services would include job training, reentry assistance, legal aid, literacy programs, and youth support. Other provisions would help qualifying entrepreneurs and encourage licensing systems that reduce barriers to participation.

In their announcement of the bill’s reintroduction, its sponsors identify reinvestment and access to opportunity as central objectives. Those objectives do not mean that grants or licenses are already available. Eligibility, administration, and funding would depend on the enacted legislation and its implementation.

Federal Cannabis Taxes

The bill would impose a federal excise tax on cannabis products produced in or imported into the United States. The introduced text starts with a 5% rate for the first two calendar years of the tax regime, followed by 6%, 7%, and 8% in successive years. It then provides for equivalent rates based on product quantity or THC content. It also includes an occupational tax for covered production and export facilities.

These are proposed federal taxes, not a current nationwide retail tax created by the MORE Act. Existing state cannabis taxation is a separate subject. Businesses should not use a bill’s proposed rate to calculate their present obligations.

Small Business Administration Services

Eligible cannabis businesses and related service providers would gain access to specified Small Business Administration programs. Separate assistance would support qualifying disadvantaged businesses. Removing an exclusion would not guarantee a loan: applicants would still need to satisfy the applicable program’s requirements.

Federal Benefits and Immigration Protections

The legislation would restrict the denial of federal public benefits on the basis of specified cannabis conduct or convictions. It also proposes immigration protections relating to cannabis. These provisions matter because the consequences of a conviction or admission of use can extend beyond a criminal sentence.

However, a pending bill cannot be relied upon to protect an immigration application or establish benefit eligibility today. Someone facing an actual case needs advice based on the law that applies to that case, rather than an assumption that the MORE Act has already removed the problem.

Expungement and Sentencing Review

The bill would create procedures for relief from qualifying nonviolent federal cannabis convictions. Federal districts would review covered convictions for people no longer under a criminal justice sentence. People still serving a covered sentence could obtain a sentencing review through the process specified in the bill.

The proposal contains eligibility limits, including an exclusion involving a specified aggravating-role sentencing adjustment. It is therefore inaccurate to promise that every cannabis conviction would disappear. Its federal court process also should not be confused with automatic clearance of all state convictions; state record-relief procedures remain a separate issue.

Reporting and Research

The MORE Act would change terminology in federal law and require demographic reporting on cannabis business owners and employees. It also calls for federal study of legalization’s effects. These provisions are intended to help policymakers assess participation in the industry and the consequences of policy changes, rather than establish that every expected benefit has already been demonstrated.

How to Follow the Bill

Use H.R. 5068’s Congress.gov page to check actions, amendments, and any later text. A committee referral is different from committee approval, passage by one chamber is different from passage by both, and a proposal is different from an enacted law. Any eventual version could differ from the introduced text summarized here.

The practical position is straightforward: the MORE Act proposes extensive federal cannabis reform, but its proposed protections and programs are not currently available under that bill. State cannabis laws and other enacted federal measures must be evaluated separately.

Image Credit: Eric Haynes