Sponsors (72)
Introduced August 29, 2025 by Jerrold Lewis Nadler · Last progress August 29, 2025
The bill broadly reduces criminal penalties, clears records, and expands market access and supports for communities harmed by cannabis prohibition — but doing so creates substantial administrative costs, legal uncertainty, public‑safety and fiscal risks, and may leave equity and privacy challenges unresolved.
People with past nonviolent federal cannabis convictions (especially low-income people and racial/ethnic minorities) will have records sealed, convictions treated as if cannabis were unscheduled, and be eligible for sentence review or vacatur — reducing barriers to employment, housing, and other collateral consequences.
State‑authorized cannabis businesses and ancillary providers (owners, landlords, contractors) gain access to SBA loans, guarantees, training, and other federal small‑business supports, improving credit access and growth opportunities in the legal market.
De‑scheduling/removing marijuana from Schedule I and related statutory changes reduce federal criminal exposure for individuals and businesses and allow HHS/FDA to regulate product safety, labeling, and marketing rather than relying on criminal law.
Federal courts and agencies, plus state/local governments, will face large administrative, staffing, and IT burdens (record reviews, hearings, rulemaking, training) and related costs to implement expungements, rescheduling, guidance, and program delivery.
The legislation creates substantial legal uncertainty and litigation risk (over terminology changes, whether substitutions are substantive, retroactivity, and conflicts with state laws), which could delay relief and produce uneven outcomes across jurisdictions.
Public‑safety and national‑security concerns arise (limits on federal enforcement tools, unsettled impairment testing, and potential constraints on personnel security assessments), which could complicate traffic safety, interdiction, and sensitive federal roles.
Based on analysis of 18 sections of legislative text.
Decriminalizes cannabis federally, directs expungement of many federal cannabis records, bars penalties in benefits/clearances/immigration, and channels cannabis tax revenue to reinvestment and SBA programs.
Removes cannabis from federal controlled substance scheduling, directs federal courts to expunge and seal many non-violent federal cannabis convictions and related arrests (including certain juvenile adjudications), and creates resentencing review procedures for people currently serving sentences for cannabis offenses. It also bars denial of federal public benefits, security clearances, and immigration benefits based on cannabis conduct that is no longer a federal offense, and directs many federal agencies to change rules, publish studies, and create programs to support justice-impacted communities and cannabis businesses. Establishes a new Opportunity Trust Fund to receive federal cannabis tax revenue and directs funding to community reinvestment, SBA loan/grant programs for socially and economically disadvantaged and justice-impacted applicants, and creates a Cannabis Justice Office in DOJ to run grant programs and related activities; also requires multiple studies (labor, public safety, education, workplace, traffic impairment technology) and new data collection on the cannabis industry.