Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Deschedule Marijuana, End Federal Prohibition of Cannabis

Legislation comes after the administration announced plans to reclassify marijuana to Schedule III

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet joined 15 of their Senate colleagues to reintroduce their Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which would end the harmful federal ban of marijuana by removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances (descheduling) and empowering states to create their own laws.

"Colorado legalized marijuana fourteen years ago and now nearly half of the states have followed our lead," said Hickenlooper. "Yet, the federal government continues to drag its feet. We need to deschedule and decriminalize marijuana, then finish the job and expunge the records of everyone who was charged with federal marijuana crimes."

"Congress should follow Colorado's lead and bring our nation's marijuana laws into the 21st century," said Bennet. "The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is long overdue and will help protect the legal cannabis economy as well as address historic inequities in our justice system."

Specifically, CAOA establishes a federal regulatory framework to protect public health and safety, prioritizes restorative and economic justice to help undo the decades of harm caused by the failed war on drugs, ends discrimination in the provision of federal benefits on the basis of cannabis use, provides major investments for cannabis research, and strengthens worker protections. By decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level, CAOA also ensures that state-legal cannabis businesses or those in adjacent industries will no longer be denied access to bank accounts or financial services simply because of their ties to cannabis.

Hickenlooper has consistently advocated for the federal government to change the classification of marijuana. Hickenlooper previously urged the DEA to completely deschedule marijuana and introduced the PREPARE Act to prepare the federal government for federal legalization of cannabis, modeled after Colorado's regulatory commission convened under then-Governor Hickenlooper.

In December, Hickenlooper welcomed the president's decision to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III and pushed the administration to support his PREPARE Act.

The text of the bill can be found HERE.

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