Senate Democrats filed legislation Thursday to strike marijuana entirely from the federal Controlled Substances Act, a far more sweeping step than the Trump administration's parallel push to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) is led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), joined by 14 cosponsors: Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Peter Welch (D-VT) — 17 total.
The bill directs the attorney general to finalize descheduling within 180 days, expunge federal low-level cannabis convictions within a year, let incarcerated people petition courts for relief, and restore housing, employment and civil rights lost to prior convictions.
A federal excise tax funding a new Justice Department Cannabis Justice Office would run 5% for small and mid-size producers, rising to 12.5% after five years, and 10% rising to 25% for large operators, supporting job training, reentry and legal aid.
Oversight would fall to the FDA (via a new Center for Cannabis Products), the ATF and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. States could keep bans but not block interstate transport of legal cannabis, and trafficking penalties would still apply in prohibition states. FinCEN would clarify that banks may serve cannabis businesses, sales would be capped at 10 ounces per transaction, buyers must be 21 or older, flavored vapes would be banned, and federal marijuana drug testing and clearance denials would largely end. The bill also orders GAO and BLS studies on legalization's effects and a Department of Transportation impaired-driving standard within three years.
The measure closely mirrors versions filed the past two Congresses but adds language blocking a scheduled November recriminalization of hemp THC products. It arrives a day after DEA concluded hearings on the administration's rescheduling plan.
"For decades, generations have suffered unjustly under the failed War on Drugs and broken cannabis laws—hurting primarily people of color," Booker said.
A bipartisan Senate group separately filed a marijuana banking bill last month. House Republicans, meanwhile, have advanced measures to block rescheduling, bar workers'-compensation coverage of medical marijuana for federal employees, and continue mandatory marijuana testing for federal and safety-sensitive workers regardless of any scheduling change.
