WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Democrats have reintroduced legislation that would remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances, reviving an effort to end the federal prohibition of marijuana while allowing states to determine their own cannabis policies and establishing a national regulatory and tax framework.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act was reintroduced by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), with Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joining 15 other Democratic senators as a cosponsor. The proposal would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act while preserving federal enforcement against trafficking that violates state law.
The measure would transfer primary federal oversight of cannabis to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to establish manufacturing and labeling standards, impose a federal excise tax on cannabis products and repeal the federal tax restriction that prevents state-legal cannabis businesses from deducting ordinary business expenses.
The legislation also seeks to establish competition rules intended to prevent monopolization within the cannabis industry while providing a regulatory framework for production, distribution and retail sales.
Beyond industry regulation, the proposal includes public safety provisions directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish standards for cannabis-impaired driving and requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to collect impairment data, develop best practices and conduct public education campaigns. It would also create grants to help states combat illicit cannabis markets and encourage adoption of cannabis open-container laws.
The bill expands federal support for cannabis research by directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health to conduct or support additional studies, while requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out clinical trials examining medical cannabis for veterans with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. It also calls for grants to strengthen cannabis research capacity at colleges and universities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions.
Its criminal justice provisions would establish automatic expungement of federal nonviolent cannabis convictions, allow eligible incarcerated individuals to petition for resentencing, create a Cannabis Justice Office within the Department of Justice and establish grant programs aimed at reducing barriers to cannabis licensing and employment for individuals disproportionately affected by prior marijuana enforcement. Revenue generated through the federal cannabis tax would be directed into an Opportunity Trust Fund supporting community reinvestment.
Additional provisions would prohibit discrimination involving certain federal benefits and immigration protections based on cannabis use or possession, eliminate routine pre-employment and random cannabis testing for many federal employees and establish worker protections for employees in the cannabis industry.
Fetterman, one of the Senate’s most outspoken supporters of legalization, argued Congress should move beyond incremental changes to federal marijuana policy. He said he has “always been very pro-weed” and believes adults should have access to cannabis in a legal, regulated market without “judgement or punishment,” adding that “it is time for Congress to stop dicking around and make weed legal.”
The Pennsylvania senator has advocated for marijuana legalization since serving as the state’s lieutenant governor, when he conducted a statewide listening tour on recreational cannabis legalization and helped launch a pardon initiative for people convicted of marijuana possession. Since joining the Senate, he has backed cannabis banking legislation, urged the Biden administration to remove marijuana from the federal controlled substances list and continued pressing for legalization.
The reintroduced legislation follows years of congressional efforts to reconcile the growing number of states that have legalized medical or adult-use cannabis with federal law, which continues to classify marijuana as a controlled substance. Previous versions of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act have not advanced to enactment.
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