Finally, the Senate has released a draft of their bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, it’s, as of now, 163 pages long, but they’re asking for public input before it is officially introduced to the Senate.
Here’s a list of some of the things the bill would do, most of it being expected:
- Deschedule Cannabis
- Expunge all prior convictions
- Allow petitions for resentencing
- States keep their authority in creating their own policies
- Create a federal tax on marijuana
- Starting at 10 percent, then reaching 25 percent by year 5
- Smaller producers would be eligible for a 50% reduction on taxes
- Some of the tax money would go to people from communities impacted by War on Drugs who want to enter the industry
- Regulatory authority would transfer from DEA to the FDA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- People would no longer be denied federal benefits because of marijuana possession offenses
- Create a federal cap of buying 10 ounces of marijuana at most
The public input window is open until September 1st. After that, we’ll see a (probably very similar) bill introduced to the Senate.
As for President Biden, nothing has changed. Speaking through his Press Secretary, he still does not back this bill.
Here’s the full bill:
