Sen. Cory Booker, Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plan to release cannabis legislation to both end the federal prohibition of cannabis and help communities that are most impacted by the War on Drugs, possibly by the end of the month.
Sens. Booker, Wyden, and Chuck Schumer introduced a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) last July, which would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level and allow states to decide whether to make it legal. It would also expunge nonviolent cannabis crimes, and taxes would be allocated to help communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs.
Since releasing the outline of the bill, lawmakers called for feedback on what to include and exclude from the final bill. The community responded. NORML, for instance, called for strengthening civic protections to clear records, revising outdated testing requirements, and providing a pathway for small businesses to compete with large ones. Others showed concern about tax rates.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced at a press conference in February that he intends to formally introduce the bill in April. NJ.com reports that the bill is almost written, and due to drop towards the end of the month. While the media is targeting April 20 as a good symbolic date for an announcement, the Senate is in recess through April 22, so a bill being introduced during the week of April 25 is more likely.
“I don’t mean this to be fully in jest but there’s been a lot of conversation about doing it on 4/20,” Booker told news outlets at the U.S. Capitol. “Aspirationally, I would love to see it done on 4/20 but I can’t