MORE Act: Weed bill 'unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form,' Piper Sandler says
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, but some industry experts are skeptical that it would actually get through the Senate and become law.
"We believe passage again in the House is likely, but we continue to believe it is unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form," Michael S. Lavery, a senior research analyst at Piper Sandler, wrote in a note to clients. "It still requires 60 votes in the Senate, a level of support we do not believe it has."
The bill — called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act — "removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana." The legislation would also impose a federal tax on marijuana sales to fund programs to help communities negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.
The House approved the legislation in the closing weeks of the last Congress in 2020, but it was never taken up by the then GOP-controlled Senate. The bill is set to be taken up by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday and get a vote on the floor by the end of the week.
If picked up by the Senate, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has vowed to do, the bill would need 60 votes — meaning support from at least 10 GOP senators if every Democrat backed it — for it to become law.
"Even among Democrats," Lavery noted, "Sens. Tester and Shaheen have spoken out against cannabis legalization, suggesting to us that the rally in cannabis stocks [on Friday] is premature."
Some states have already moved to legalize marijuana in some form or another.
As of Feb. 3, 37 U.S. states, four territories, and the District of Columbia permit cannabis products for medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eighteen states, two territories, and also the nation's capital have enacted measures to permit cannabis for non-medical use.
Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv
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