FEATURING PAUL ARMENTANO – The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to pass a historic bill to decriminalize marijuana nationwide called the MORE Act. The Democrat-controlled House passed the bill 228-to-164 as growing numbers of states around the nation have legalized Cannabis. House Democrats linked the passage of the bill to the harm that the “war on drugs” has done to communities of color especially. Republican lawmakers opposed the bill making it unlikely to pass the Senate, however. Republican voters, like Democrats, are largely in favor of legalization.

Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, an advocacy group working on marijuana legalization. He also serves on the faculty of Oaksterdam University in Oakland, where he is the Chair of Science. He is a regular contributor to TheHill.com as well as to numerous other print and online publications, and is the co-author of the book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?