Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and repeals criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.

Highlights:

• Requires the removal of marijuana from the list of schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that an individual who defrauds the United States in relation to their marijuana business will be fined up to $10,000, imprisoned up to 5 years, or both (Sec. 5942).

• Authorizes a 5 percent tax on marijuana products in or imported into the US (Sec. 5901).

• Requires each federal court to issue an order expunging any arrests associated with each expunged conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency (Sec. 10).

• Requires a court that imposed a criminal sentence for a non-violent federal marijuana offense to conduct a sentencing review hearing (Sec. 10).

• Requires, after a sentencing hearing, a court to (Sec. 10):

• Expunge each conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a non-violent federal marijuana offense entered by the court before this bill’s date of enactment and any associated arrest;

• Vacate the existing sentence or disposition of juvenile delinquency and impose any remaining sentence or disposition of juvenile delinquency on the individual as if this bill were in effect at the time of the offense; and

• Order that all records related to a conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency that has been expunged be sealed and only be made available by further order of the court.

• Prohibits an individual from being denied a federal public benefit on the basis of any use or possession of marijuana, or on the basis of a conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a marijuana-related offense (Sec. 8).

• Prohibits federal agencies from using past or present marijuana use as criteria for granting, denying, or rescinding a security clearance (Sec. 8).

• Requires each federal district to conduct a comprehensive review and issue an order expunging each conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a non-violent federal marijuana offense entered by each federal court in the district before this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 10).

• Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to hold at least one public meeting to address the regulation, safety, manufacturing, product quality, marketing, labeling, and sale of products containing marijuana or marijuana-derived compounds (Sec. 3).

• Requires the US Comptroller General to provide Congress with a study that addresses the societal impact of the legalization of recreational marijuana (Sec. 15).

• Establishes the Cannabis Justice Office within the Office of Justice Programs to award grants and to enter into compacts, cooperative agreements, and contracts (Sec. 110).

• Requires the Director of the Cannabis Justice Office to establish and carry out a grant program known as the Community Reinvestment Grant Program to private entities with funds to administer services for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, including (Sec. 3052):

• Job training; 

• Reentry services; 

• Legal aid for civil and criminal cases, including expungement of marijuana convictions; 

• Literacy programs; 

• Youth recreation or mentoring programs; or

• Health education programs.

• Requires the Director to provide eligible entities with funds to administer substance use disorder services for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs (Sec. 3052).

• Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly compile, maintain, and make public data on demographics of (Sec 4):

• Individuals who are business owners in the marijuana industry; and

• Individuals who are employed in the marijuana industry.

• Defines “individual adversely impacted by the War on Drugs” as an individual (Sec. 3054):

• Who has had an income below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level for at least 5 of the 10 past years; and

• Has been arrested for or convicted of the sale, possession, use, manufacture, or cultivation of marijuana.

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text