Washington, D.C. — The U.S. House Friday voted along party lines to decriminalize marijuana.

What You Need To Know

  • The house voted to approve a measure that would reclassify cannabis

  • Local representatives assert legalization would lead to increased tax revenue

  • A similar bill was passes last year, but didn't get a vote in the Senate

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would remove cannabis from the government’s list of controlled substances and allow some criminal convictions for marijuana to be expunged. But it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

Robert Platshorn is the founder of The Silver Tour, a Florida-based nonprofit organization that educates seniors about the benefits of medical marijuana.

But his involvement with cannabis was not always legal.

He spent more than half his adult life locked up for smuggling large quantities of it into the U.S. from Colombia as a leader of the "Black Tuna Gang."

"I spent 30 miserable years in prison and I lost everything and everyone," Platshorn said. "But, I was fortunate. I had a wife waiting for me to come out, and a place to live, and work. Most people coming out of prison do not have that."

Platshorn says a conviction for possessing even a small amount of marijuana can follow someone for life, too.

But, legislation approved by the U.S. House would change that — decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level and requiring federal courts to expunge many marijuana convictions.

Congressman Charlie Crist said legalization would benefit Florida economically by allowing marijuana to be taxed. 

Currently, only medical marijuana is legal in the state. Making recreational cannabis legal would be up to the state legislature and governor.

"The revenue that Florida could generate from this could help us give teachers raises, fund law enforcement," Crist said. "An awful lot of good can come from it."

The House passed similar legislation in 2020, only to see it die in Senate. Supporters are hoping the new bill fares better, but it still faces long odds in the Senate, after just three House Republicans voted for it.

"Now that we have a Democratic majority, I believe there's a much better chance, but we still need ten Republicans to sign on to get beyond the filibuster. So, negotiations will happen, and I'm hopeful we'll get this done," said Congressman Darren Soto. 

The Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, supports legalization, but he has not yet committed to the House legislation. His office has said he's working on his own proposal.

Platshorn says he hopes this time the legislation passes.

"You think marijuana, it's legal in 30 states, it's recreational in 18 states, why are they still putting people in jail, destroying lives?" he said.