Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) announced the bill, dubbed the Cannabis Stewardship and Opportunity Act, in remarks early Thursday, praising the introduction of the law as “historic.” “I’m proud to be the first Majority Leader ever to say it’s time to end federal cannabis prohibition, and this bill provides the best framework to update our cannabis laws and reverse decades of harm caused by war on drugs”. Schumer said. Schumer worked with Sens. Cory Booker (DN.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to craft the legislation after the three released a draft plan last year for public feedback. Schumer said senators have received more than 1,800 public comments and worked with “multiple Senate committees to improve the bill.” Schumer said the bill would legalize cannabis by removing the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and “authorizing states to create their own cannabis laws.” “It will create a strong regulatory system to protect public health and ensure cannabis is as safe as possible. It includes rules to prevent impaired driving, prevent youth access and prevent illegal diversion. We are also aggressively funding a variety of research programs to make up for lost time in cannabis research,” he said. Schumer said the bill also includes measures aimed at expunging the federal criminal records of those “with convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses,” allowing “those in federal prison for non-violent cannabis offenses to appeal their sentences” and creates a fund “to reinvest in communities devastated by the war on drugs.” “It’s a tragedy that too many Americans — especially Black and Hispanic Americans — have permanent stains on their records, making it nearly impossible to move on with their lives, just because they were caught with some marijuana in their pocket. How unfair and what a waste of human resources,” he said. House Oversight Chair Calls on HHS to Address ‘Obstacles’ to Monkey Pox Treatments Campaign Report — A Showdown in the Grand Canyon State Schumer cautioned that the recent introduction marks only the “beginning of the legislative process,” but said senators will work to push the bill, which comes months after the House passed its own legislation to legalize marijuana. “I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans to get something done this year,” he said. But the new bill faces stiff resistance from many Republicans in the evenly divided Senate, as well as resistance from some Democrats, threatening its chances of passing the upper house.
