Conor Lamb votes for federal marijuana decriminalization, after opposing it in 2020

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, voted Friday to support a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on the federal level and allow for some marijuana-related convictions to be expunged.

It’s a change of course for Lamb, who in 2020 was one of only four House Democrats to vote against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act.

The new bill passed 220-204 and is headed to the Senate. It is the second time the MORE Act passed the House since 2020, and, this year, it received slightly more support.

In 2020, Lamb called the legislation a “nonserious bill that wasn’t done the right way and will never be signed into law.” This year, he joined the vast majority of the Democratic Caucus, as well as three Republicans, in supporting the MORE Act.

Related:

• House votes to decriminalize marijuana

Lamb didn’t immediately respond to questions about why he switched his vote, but his office put out a statement that implied the bill garnered his vote thanks to his amendment to the bill being included in the MORE Act package.

Lamb’s amendment, which passed by a 234-189 vote, would direct the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to study the impact of cannabis legalization on workplaces and direct the Department of Education to study the impact of legalization on schools and school-age children.

“I support the legalization of cannabis, but it needs to be done carefully and safely. My amendment is a commonsense way to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect workers and kids,” Lamb said in a statement.

Lamb is not seeking reelection to the House. He is seeking the Democratic nomination in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, of Braddock, has been leading in the polls in the Democratic race. He has made recreational marijuana legalization a large part of his platform.