Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Announces Updates to Bill to Federally Legalize Cannabis
In February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer explained in a press conference and in a letter to colleagues the details of his bill to federally legalize cannabis and announced his plan to introduce it in the coming weeks.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his plans to file a bill in April 2022 to federally legalize cannabis (1,2). He also said in a letter to colleagues that he and other senators have already received comments on the draft from a broad array of relevant sources and are requesting input from leaders of relevant committees and from senators who have dealt with legalization in their own states.
Schumer first disclosed details about his Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (CAOA), which he unveiled in draft form for public comment in July 2021, and he expects committee hearings on the proposal shortly after it’s formally filed.
“One major hurdle continues to stand in the way of states’ ability to make their own decisions about cannabis—the continued prohibition of marijuana at the federal level,” said Schumer. “As more and more states move to legalize cannabis for both adult and medical use, the federal government has an important role to play. Hundreds of millions of Americans live in states that have legalized cannabis in some form while it remains illegal at the federal level.”
The proposal would federally deschedule cannabis, expunge prior convictions, allow people to petition for resentencing, maintain the authority of states to set their own cannabis policies, and remove collateral consequences such as immigration-related penalties for people who’ve been criminalized over the plant.
The bill would also impose a federal tax on cannabis products and direct some of that revenue to grant programs meant to support people from communities most impacted by the prohibition who want to participate in the industry. It would transfer regulatory authority over cannabis from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
References
Ep 26: Innovations in Drying and Curing to Protect Flower Quality
May 27th 2025In this latest installment of Noid Knowledge, we are joined by Dr. Allison Justice, Founder and CEO of the Hemp Mine, and David Sandelman COO, CTO & Co-Founder of Cannatrol. Here, Allison and David discuss innovations in cannabis drying and curing, focusing on the Cannatrol technology which controls vapor pressure, preserving trichome integrity, and flower quality. Additionally, Allison shares how the Cannabis Research Center and Coalition (CRC) is transition to an open-source model to support cultivators, researchers, and home growers.
Ep 25: Cannabis Quality Differentiation Beyond Cannabinoid Content
February 28th 2025In this latest installment of Noid Knowledge we are joined by Julie Kowalski, a leading mind in analytical chemistry and cannabis testing. Julie has arranged a very compelling symposium for Pittcon entitled Cannabis Aroma: Advances and Challenges in Determining and Commercializing Cannabis Product Quality Attributes. It is taking place on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, starting at 9:30 AM in room 209. The session features top notch speakers, including several previous guests of this show, and yours truly, discussing the next generation of quality assessment in cannabis.
