WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Fetterman joined his Senate Democratic colleagues in restoring Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Actcomprehensive legislation that would end harmful federal prohibition of cannabis by removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and allowing states to create their own regulations.
“I have always been very pro-pot. With a very libertarian approach: I’m not going to judge anyone for using it to push the edge of life. I think the path to wellness should be without judgment or punishment – legal, sheltered and regulated. I support President Biden AND President Trump when they took action on this,” Fetterman said. “But it’s time for Congress to stop fooling itself and legalize pot. This bill is a good step forward.”
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act I would do:
Protect public health by:
- Establishing a Cannabis Products Center to regulate the production, labeling, distribution, sale and other manufacturing and retail elements of the cannabis industry.
- Recommendation that the FDA establish labeling standards for cannabis products, including strengths, doses, servings, place of manufacture and directions for utilize.
- Establishing programs and funds to prevent youth cannabis utilize.
- Increasing resources for comprehensive treatment of disorders related to the utilize of opioids, stimulants and psychoactive substances.
Protect public safety by:
- Removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and eliminating federal prohibitions in states that choose to legalize medical marijuana or adult-use marijuana.
- Maintaining federal prohibitions on the sale of cannabis in violation of state law; establishing a grant program to facilitate departments combat black market cannabis.
- Requiring the Department of Transportation (DOT) to create standards for driving under the influence of cannabis.
- Direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to collect data on cannabis driving, create educational materials on best practices, and conduct media campaigns.
- Encouraging states to adopt prohibitions on cannabis in open containers.
Regulate and tax cannabis by:
- Transferring federal jurisdiction over cannabis to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
- Eliminating tax code restrictions on cannabis businesses claiming deductions for business expenses and introducing an excise tax on cannabis products.
- Establishing market competition rules to protect independent producers, wholesalers and retailers and prevent anti-competitive behavior.
Encourage cannabis research by:
- Requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study and report on metrics that may be impacted by cannabis legalization.
- Requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct or support research on the effects of cannabis.
- Requiring the VA to conduct a series of clinical trials examining the effects of medical marijuana on health outcomes for veterans diagnosed with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Requiring the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly collect and publish data on the demographics of business owners and workers in the cannabis industry.
- Establishing grants to build cannabis research capacity at institutions of higher education, with particular emphasis on minority-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities.
Prioritize justice by:
- Using federal tax revenues to fund the Opportunity Trust Fund to reinvest in the communities and people most harmed by the failed war on drugs.
- Establishing an Office of Cannabis Justice within the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.
- Creating a grant program to provide funding to facilitate minimize barriers to obtaining cannabis licenses and employment for people who have been adversely impacted by the war on drugs.
- Establishing expedited FDA review of cannabis drugs manufactured by petite businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged people.
- Directing the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a grant program to provide communities whose residents have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs with additional funding to meet the housing, economic, and community development needs of such residents.
- Initiating automatic expungement of federal cannabis crimes and allowing a person serving a federal prison sentence for a cannabis crime to petition the court to have his or her sentence vacated.
- Prohibiting the denial of any benefits or protections under immigration law to any foreign national based on their utilize or possession of cannabis.
- Preventing federal benefits discrimination against people who utilize cannabis.
Strengthen workers’ rights by:
- Eliminating unnecessary pre-employment testing for federal employees and random cannabis drug testing.
- Ensuring the protection of workers working in the cannabis industry.
- Establish grants for local education, outreach and enforcement of workers’ rights in the cannabis industry.
Reintroduction Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act was co-hosted by U.S. senators Ron Wyden (D-Ruda.) i Cory Booker (DN.J.), i Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.). In addition to Fetterman, co-authors of the legislation included: US senators Alex Padilla (D-California), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Rafał Warnock (D-Ga.), Ben Ray Lujan (DN.M.), Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.), Ed Markey (Weight D), Elizabeth Warren (Weight D), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-red.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), i PattyMurray (D-Wash.).
