Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento. 

This week we're looking at:

  • the future of MORE cannabis legislation.
  • a cannabis tax collector's "victim" status.
  • Paul Hastings' role in a $2 billion acquisition.
  • Cronos Group's head of litigation.

Thanks as always for reading. Please keep the feedback and story ideas coming. Drop me a line at [email protected]. You can call me, too, at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter @capitalaccounts.

Seena Max Samimi of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell. Courtesy photo

Is MORE Act more of the same doomed cannabis legislation?

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The House of Representatives is expected to vote Friday on sweeping legislation that would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. But even if the bill is approved, it's probably DOA in the Senate.

In addition to descheduling cannabis, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement, or MORE Act would set a 5% tax on cannabis products, allow for the expungement of nonviolent marijuana offenses and make Small Business Administration loans available to state-licensed cannabis operators. The Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday that the bill's provisions would generate more than $8 billion in revenue through 2031.