The house of representatives made history on Friday when they voted in favor of passing the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. It was the first time in history that either The House or Congress has passed a bill relating to the federal legalization of cannabis, moving America one step closer to federal legalization. A step closer than we’ve ever been.

The MORE Act has been crafted to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act outright, expunge convictions non-violent cannabis offenses and would make banking a much easier endeavor for cannabis businesses across the nation.

This bill has the potential to directly benefit hundreds of thousands of Americans should it pass: it will affect past and current convicts who are serving time for non-violent cannabis offense, or who haven’t been able to get jobs because of past felonies. It will affect families whose mothers, fathers, daughters and sons are locked up and away from their loved ones. And it will affect business owners who just want to bank their money like any other legitimate business.

It’s a bill that’s been a long time coming. It still needs to pass through Congress and then get signed into law by the president (whoever that is by the time this makes it to the Resolute Desk). But this is an extremely hopeful step. A bigger step than we’ve seen from the federal government, ever.

But, of course, there were those in The House who weren’t happy the MORE Act passing, while other bills remained stuck in limbo on the floor.

“This week, your House Democrat majority is tackling the tough issues by holding a vote on legalizing pot and banning tiger ownership,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote Monday on Twitter. “Nothing for small businesses. Nothing for re-opening schools. Nothing on battling the pandemic. Just cannabis and cats.”

But you know what, representative McCarthy? Cats and cannabis are progress enough, for now. That’s a stimulus package that everyone in America can get behind. The rest will [hopefully] come in time.

What happens with this bill now that it’s progressed remains to be seen — but everyone cannabis connoisseur and business owner in America is watching eagerly and anxiously.