Sponsors (3)
Official title: To establish a Commission on the Federal Regulation of Cannabis to study a prompt and plausible pathway to the Federal regulation of cannabis, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 17, 2025 by David Joyce · Last progress April 17, 2025
The bill replaces federal prohibition with a federal regulatory framework that expands medical access, research, business opportunities, and legal clarity, while creating public-health risks, fiscal and compliance costs, implementation confusion, and uncertain restoration of justice for those harmed by past enforcement.
Patients with chronic conditions (and researchers) would gain clearer federal access to medical cannabis and easier federal-level research, expanding treatment options and improving product safety and impairment standards.
People with past federal marijuana convictions (and communities disproportionately affected) could regain rights and avoid ongoing collateral consequences if prohibition is replaced by regulation, and the bill directs remedies and reinvestment recommendations to address criminalization harms.
Businesses, consumers, and states would gain a predictable federal regulatory model (licensing, labeling, age limits, taxation, interstate trade guidance) that could improve product oversight, enable interstate commerce, and create more consistent rules across jurisdictions.
Adults' increased availability of cannabis under eased federal restrictions could raise public-health and safety risks (impaired driving, workplace impairment) and heighten concerns about youth access despite proposed protections.
The bill's recommendations and reporting do not guarantee timely or complete remedies for past enforcement disparities; affected communities may not receive effective expungement, reinvestment, or relief without concrete implementation.
Standing up federal regulatory agencies and commissions and implementing new frameworks could increase administrative costs borne by taxpayers and shift enforcement or implementation costs to states.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal commission to recommend a prompt pathway and regulatory framework for ending federal marijuana prohibition and overseeing adult-use cannabis.
Creates a temporary federal commission to study and recommend a prompt, plausible pathway to end federal marijuana prohibition and to design a nationwide regulatory framework modeled on alcohol regulation. The commission must solicit public input, hold public hearings, address criminal-justice harms (with attention to minority, low-income, and veteran communities), recommend rules on product safety, labeling and youth protections, propose banking and research access solutions, and report initial recommendations within 120 days and final recommendations within one year of enactment. The law directs the Attorney General to establish the Commission on the Federal Regulation of Cannabis within 30 days of enactment, defines stakeholder participation (including industry representatives and people convicted of cannabis offenses), and requires a schedule for public comment, hearings, and two reports with actionable recommendations for federal agencies and Congress.