On Thursday, July 30, 2020, Democratic Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) filed a new bill to federally legalize marijuana. The bill, titled the “Substance Regulation and Safety Act,” would “decriminalize and deschedule cannabis” and provide for its regulation by removing both marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols from the Controlled Substance Act and giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate cannabis products in the same manner, and to the same extent, as FDA regulates tobacco products. The legislation provides a minimum age of 21 for cannabis or cannabis-derived products, requires the federal Department of Health and Human Services to come up with a “national strategy to prevent youth use and abuse of cannabis, with specific attention to youth vaping of cannabis products,” and requires federally-funded research on cannabis. The amendments made by this bill would be retroactive and apply to any offence committed, case pending, or conviction entered before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Bill.
We will continue to monitor for updates.
Our Cannabis Practice provides advice on issues related to applicable federal and state law. Marijuana remains an illegal controlled substance under federal law.