Long-awaited bill to end federal ban on marijuana introduced in U.S. Senate

Long-awaited U.S. Senate cannabis legislation that would end the federal ban on marijuana while encouraging research and taking steps to help minority communities hardest hit by the war on drugs was introduced Thursday.

The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act would leave it to the states to decide whether to legalize the drug. Many, including New Jersey, already have, putting them in conflict with federal law. Those state-legal businesses would be able to obtain checking accounts, credit cards and other financial services now denied to them.

The bill would expunge federal cannabis convictions and encourage states to follow suit; require the Food and Drug Administration to set strong cannabis health, safety and labeling standards; encourage research into the drug; impose a federal excise tax of 5% to 12.5% for smaller businesses and 10% to 25% for larger concerns; and direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to address drugged driving, requiring a standard for cannabis-impaired driving within three years.

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“As more states legalize cannabis and work towards reversing the many injustices the failed war on drugs levied against Black, brown, and low-income people, the federal government continues to lag woefully behind,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, one of the bill’s chief sponsors along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

“With strong restorative justice provisions for communities impacted by the drug war, support for small cannabis businesses, and expungement of federal cannabis offenses, this bill reflects long overdue, common sense drug policy,” Booker said.

Federal law would still prevent using or selling cannabis in states that have not legalized the drug. The Department of Justice would provide grants to help small law enforcement departments hire officers, investigators and community outreach specialists to combat black market sales.

The bill would limit the sale of cannabis to those 21 and older, and fund programs to prevent youth marijuana use. The FDA’s new Center for Cannabis Products would set labeling standards, including potency and servings.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service would offer recommendations about the use of medical marijuana by patients, and work to prevent people from buying large quantities of the drug in states where it is legal in order to sell it elsewhere.

Those harmed by the war on drugs would get access to financing to enter the cannabis business and those who use marijuana wouldn’t face the loss of federal benefits such as housing or student loans. Marijuana testing for federal workers would be limited to those employees in areas such as national security, law enforcement, and commercial transportation.

The FDA and the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau would take over jurisdiction over marijuana from the Drug Enforcement Agency and would regulate it like alcohol and tobacco. Legal marijuana businesses would be able to deduct their expenses like other enterprises.

Federal taxes would be used to help communities and individuals hardest hit by the war on drugs, including grants to community-based organizations to offer job training, legal aid, mentoring and literacy programs. Loans would be made directly to small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and to lenders who would make those loans.

And federal research into the medical properties would be increased, including offering grants to develop research facilities and universities, especially minority-serving institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The bill was more than year in the making as Democrats took control of the Senate and Schumer vowed to introduce legislation with the hope it would attract the 60 votes needed for passage in their chamber.

That would require at least 10 Republicans to vote with every Democrat, but many GOP senators now hail from states that have legalized cannabis for medical or personal use.

“The introduction of comprehensive cannabis reform legislation in the Senate, by none less than the majority leader himself, is the strongest sign yet that cannabis prohibition in America is nearing its end,” said Steve Hawkins, chief executive of the U.S. Cannabis Council.

There were some dissenting voices, however.

“Under the guise of social justice, increased entrepreneurship, and other false narratives, this bill will guarantee our next slow motion public health crisis — all while bypassing stringent review/approval processes other psychoactive drugs had to clear,” said former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., a co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

“By commercializing legal marijuana, tobacco companies, liquor companies, financial institutions, and the pharmaceutical industry stand to make billions. Let’s not lose sight of who the real ‘winners’ are here.”

The House twice has passed legislation to end the federal ban on cannabis and help communities and individuals hardest hit by the war on drugs. But until now, the Senate has refused to go along.

“A majority of Americans now support legalizing cannabis, and Congress must act by working to end decades of over-criminalization,” Schumer said. “It is time to end the federal prohibition on cannabis.”

In addition, the Senate never has taken up incremental steps such as the Secure and Fair Enforcement, or SAFE, Banking Act, even forcing it out of unrelated legislation that Democrats have succeeded in adding it to in the House.

Booker has objected to passing SAFE Banking on its own, saying that the monied interests pushing for that bill would lose their interest in also championing restorative justice issues if their priority is enacted.

But Hawkins said that Congress should move now on more incremental cannabis legislation.

“The ambitious and sweeping nature of the bill should not distract Congress from advancing limited yet critical reforms, such as expungement and the SAFE Banking Act, that are immediately within reach,” he said.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant.