II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 597 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding 

the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. WARREN, Ms. 

HARRIS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BENNET) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a 

new rule regarding the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marijuana Justice Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DE-SCHEDULING MARIHUANA. 

7 (a) MARIHUANA REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF

8 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Subsection (c) of schedule 


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1 I of section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

2 U.S.C. 812) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘marihuana’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘tetrahydrocannabinols’’. 

5 (b) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EX6 PORT.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Im7 port and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

10 after the semicolon; 

11 (B) by striking subparagraph (G); and 

12 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 

13 subparagraph (G); 

14 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

16 after the semicolon; 

17 (B) by striking subparagraph (G); and 

18 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 

19 subparagraph (G); 

20 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘paragraphs 

21 (1), (2), and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and 

22 (2)’’; 

23 (4) by striking paragraph (4); and 

24 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 

25 (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED

2 SUBSTANCES ACT.—The Controlled Substances Act (21 

3 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 102(44) (21 U.S.C. 802(44)), by 

5 striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 

6 (2) in section 401(b) (21 U.S.C. 841(b))— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (I) in clause (vi), by inserting 

10 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

11 (II) by striking (vii); and 

12 (III) by redesignating clause 

13 (viii) as clause (vii); 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

15 (I) by striking clause (vii); and 

16 (II) by redesignating clause (viii) 

17 as clause (vii); 

18 (iii) in subparagraph (C), in the first 

19 sentence, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A), 

20 (B), and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara21 graphs (A) and (B)’’; 

22 (iv) by striking subparagraph (D); 

23 (v) by redesignating subparagraph (E) 

24 as subparagraph (D); and 


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1 (vi) in subparagraph (D)(i), as so re2 designated, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (C) 

3 and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

4 (C)’’; 

5 (B) by striking paragraph (4); and 

6 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), 

7 and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respec8 tively; 

9 (3) in section 402(c)(2)(B) (21 U.S.C. 

10 842(c)(2)(B)), by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 

11 (4) in section 403(d)(1) (21 U.S.C. 843(d)(1)), 

12 by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 

13 (5) in section 418(a) (21 U.S.C. 859(a)), by 

14 striking the last sentence; 

15 (6) in section 419(a) (21 U.S.C. 860(a)), by 

16 striking the last sentence; 

17 (7) in section 422(d) (21 U.S.C. 863(d))— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

19 by striking ‘‘marijuana,’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘, such 

21 as a marihuana cigarette,’’; and 

22 (8) in section 516(d) (21 U.S.C. 886(d)), by 

23 striking ‘‘section 401(b)(6)’’ each place the term ap24 pears and inserting ‘‘section 401(b)(5)’’. 

25 (d) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM DRUG CONTROL

2 ACT OF 1986.—The National Forest System Drug 

3 Control Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 559b et seq.) is 

4 amended— 

5 (A) in section 15002(a) (16 U.S.C. 

6 559b(a)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

7 (B) in section 15003(2) (16 U.S.C. 

8 559c(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

9 and 

10 (C) in section 15004(2) (16 U.S.C. 

11 559d(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’. 

12 (2) INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Sec13 tion 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amend14 ed— 

15 (A) in subsection (1)(e), by striking ‘‘mari16 huana,’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (2) by striking ‘‘mari18 huana,’’. 

19 SEC. 3. INELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN FUNDS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

21 (1) the term ‘‘covered State’’ means a State 

22 that has not enacted a statute legalizing marijuana 

23 in the State; 

24 (2) the term ‘‘disproportionate arrest rate’’ 

25 means— 


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1 (A) the percentage of minority individuals 

2 arrested for a marijuana related offense in a 

3 State is higher than the percentage of the non4 minority individual population of the State, as 

5 determined by the most recent census data; or 

6 (B) the percentage of low-income individ7 uals arrested for a marijuana offense in a State 

8 is higher than the percentage of the population 

9 of the State that are not low-income individ10 uals, as determined by the most recent census 

11 data; 

12 (3) the term ‘‘disproportionate incarceration 

13 rate’’ means the percentage of minority individuals 

14 incarcerated for a marijuana related offense in a 

15 State is higher than the percentage of the non-mi16 nority individual population of the State, as deter17 mined by the most recent census data; 

18 (4) the term ‘‘low-income individual’’ means 

19 and individual whose taxable income (as defined in 

20 section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) is 

21 equal to or below the maximum dollar amount for 

22 the 15 percent rate bracket applicable to the indi23 vidual under section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986; 


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1 (5) the term ‘‘marijuana’’ has the meaning 

2 given the term ‘‘marihuana’’ in section 102 of the 

3 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); and 

4 (6) the term ‘‘minority individual’’ means an in5 dividual who is a member of a racial or ethnic mi6 nority group. 

7 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year begin9 ning after the date of enactment of this Act in which 

10 the Attorney General, acting through the Director of 

11 the Bureau of Justice Assistance, determines that a 

12 covered State has a disproportionate arrest rate or 

13 a disproportionate incarceration rate for marijuana 

14 offenses, the covered State— 

15 (A) shall not be eligible to receive any Fed16 eral funds for the construction or staffing of a 

17 prison or jail; and 

18 (B) shall be subject to not more than a 10- 

19 percent reduction of the funds that would oth20 erwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the 

21 covered State under subpart 1 of part E of title 

22 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

23 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), 

24 whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 

25 Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement 


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1 Assistance Programs, the Local Government 

2 Law Enforcement Block Grants Program, the 

3 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 

4 Grant Program, or otherwise. 

5 (2) FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMMING.—For 

6 purposes of paragraph (1)(A), Federal funds for the 

7 construction or staffing of a prison or jail shall not 

8 include Federal funds used by a prison or jail to 

9 carry out recidivism reduction programming or drug 

10 addiction treatment. 

11 (3) REALLOCATION.—Any amounts not award12 ed to a covered State because of a determination 

13 under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Com14 munity Reinvestment Fund established under section 

15 4. 

16 (c) EXPUNGEMENT OF MARIJUANA OFFENSE CON17 VICTIONS.—Each Federal court shall issue an order 

18 expunging each conviction for a marijuana use or posses19 sion offense entered by the court before the date of enact20 ment of this Act. 

21 (d) SENTENCING REVIEW.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any individual who was 

23 sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a Federal 

24 criminal offense involving marijuana before the date 

25 of enactment of this Act and is still serving such 


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1 term of imprisonment, the court that imposed the 

2 sentence, shall, on motion of the individual, the Di3 rector of the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the 

4 Government, or the court, conduct a sentencing 

5 hearing. 

6 (2) POTENTIAL REDUCED RESENTENCING.— 

7 After a sentencing hearing under paragraph (1), a 

8 court may impose a sentence on the individual as if 

9 this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

10 were in effect at the time the offense was committed. 

11 (e) RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is ag13 grieved by a disproportionate arrest rate or a dis14 proportionate incarceration rate of a State may 

15 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

16 of the United States. 

17 (2) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought under 

18 this subsection in which the plaintiff prevails, the 

19 court shall— 

20 (A) grant all necessary equitable and legal 

21 relief, including declaratory relief; and 

22 (B) issue an order requiring the Attorney 

23 General, acting through the Director of the Bu24 reau of Justice Assistance, to— 


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1 (i) declare the State to be ineligible to 

2 receive any Federal funds for the construc3 tion or staffing of a prison or jail in ac4 cordance with subsection (b)(1)(A); and 

5 (ii) reduce grant funding of the State 

6 in accordance with subsection (b)(1)(B). 

7 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

10 ‘‘Community Reinvestment Fund’’ (referred to in this sec11 tion as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

12 (b) DEPOSITS.—The Fund shall consist of— 

13 (1) any amounts not awarded to a covered 

14 State because of a determination under section 

15 3(b)(1); and 

16 (2) any amounts otherwise appropriated to the 

17 Fund. 

18 (c) USE OF FUND AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the Fund 

19 shall be available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

20 Development to establish a grant program to reinvest in 

21 communities most affected by the war on drugs, which 

22 shall include providing grants to impacted communities for 

23 programs such as— 

24 (1) job training; 

25 (2) reentry services; 


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1 (3) expenses related to the expungement of con2 victions; 

3 (4) public libraries; 

4 (5) community centers; 

5 (6) programs and opportunities dedicated to 

6 youth; 

7 (7) the special purpose fund discussed below; 

8 and 

9 (8) health education programs. 

10 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUND AMOUNTS.—Amounts in 

11 the Fund shall be available without fiscal year limitation. 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

14 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2042. 

Æ 


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