II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1552 

To decriminalize marijuana, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2019 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, 

Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To decriminalize marijuana, 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 Freedom 

5 and Opportunity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA. 

7 (a) MARIHUANA REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF

8 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Subsection (c) of schedule 

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

10 U.S.C. 812) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘marihuana’’; and 


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

2 (b) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EX3 PORT.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Im4 port and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

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

7 after the semicolon; 

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

9 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 

10 subparagraph (G); 

11 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

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

13 after the semicolon; 

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

15 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 

16 subparagraph (G); 

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

18 (1), (2), and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and 

19 (2)’’; 

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

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

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

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED

24 SUBSTANCES ACT.—The Controlled Substances Act (21 

25 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended— 


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

2 striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 

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

4 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

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

7 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

8 (II) by striking (vii); and 

9 (III) by redesignating clause 

10 (viii) as clause (vii); 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

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

13 (II) by redesignating clause (viii) 

14 as clause (vii); 

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

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

17 (B), and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara18 graphs (A) and (B)’’; 

19 (iv) by striking subparagraph (D); 

20 (v) by redesignating subparagraph (E) 

21 as subparagraph (D); and 

22 (vi) in subparagraph (D)(i), as so re23 designated, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (C) 

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

25 (C)’’; 


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

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

3 and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respec4 tively; 

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

6 842(c)(2)(B)), by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 

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

8 by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 

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

10 striking the last sentence; 

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

12 striking the last sentence; 

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

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

15 by striking ‘‘marijuana,’’; and 

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

17 as a marihuana cigarette,’’; and 

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

19 striking ‘‘section 401(b)(6)’’ each place the term ap20 pears and inserting ‘‘section 401(b)(5)’’. 

21 (d) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM DRUG CONTROL

23 ACT OF 1986.—The National Forest System Drug 

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

25 amended— 


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

2 559b(a)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

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

4 559c(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 

5 and 

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

7 559d(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’. 

8 (2) INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Sec9 tion 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amend10 ed— 

11 (A) in subsection (1)(e), by striking ‘‘mari12 huana,’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (2) by striking ‘‘mari14 huana,’’. 

15 SEC. 3. LEVEL THE ECONOMIC PLAYING FIELD. 

16 (a) ESTIMATE.—On an annual basis, the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury shall make a reasonable estimate of total 

18 tax revenue generated by the marijuana industry for the 

19 previous 12-month period. 

20 (b) TRANSFER.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

21 transfer from the general fund of the Treasury to the trust 

22 fund established under subsection (c) the greater of— 

23 (1) an amount equal to 10 percent of the 

24 amount estimated under subsection (a); and 

25 (2) $10,000,000. 


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1 (c) TRUST FUND.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

3 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be 

4 known as the Marijuana Opportunity Trust Fund, 

5 which shall consist of amounts transferred under 

6 subsection (b). 

7 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the trust 

8 fund established under paragraph (1) shall be made 

9 available to the Administrator of the Small Business 

10 Administration to provide loans under section 7(m) 

11 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)) to as12 sist— 

13 (A) small business concerns owned and 

14 controlled by women, as defined in section 3 of 

15 that Act (15 U.S.C. 632), that operate in the 

16 marijuana industry; and 

17 (B) small business concerns owned and 

18 controlled by socially and economically dis19 advantaged individuals, as defined in section 

20 8(d)(3)(C) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 637(d)(3)(C)), that operate in the marijuana 

22 industry. 


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1 SEC. 4. HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH. 

2 (a) STUDY; DEVELOPMENT.—The Administrator of 

3 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (re4 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall— 

5 (1) carry out a study of the impact of driving 

6 under the influence of tetrahydrocannabinol on high7 way safety; and 

8 (2) develop enhanced strategies and procedures 

9 to reliably determine the impairment of a driver 

10 under the influence of tetrahydrocannabinol. 

11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

13 carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2019 through 2023. 

15 SEC. 5. PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, in consultation with the Director of the 

18 National Institutes of Health and the Commissioner of 

19 Food and Drugs, shall conduct research on the impacts 

20 of marijuana, including— 

21 (1) effects of tetrahydrocannabinol on the 

22 human brain; 

23 (2) efficacy of medicinal marijuana as a treat24 ment for specific diseases and conditions; and 

25 (3) identification of additional medical benefits 

26 and uses of cannabis. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

3 Health and Human Services, $100,000,000 for each of fis4 cal years 2019 through 2023, for purposes of carrying out 

5 the activities described in subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 6. PROTECT KIDS. 

7 The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of 

8 the Department of the Treasury shall promulgate regula9 tions that— 

10 (1) require restrictions on the advertising and 

11 promotion of products related to marijuana, if the 

12 Secretary determines that such regulation would be 

13 appropriate for the protection of the public health, 

14 taking into account— 

15 (A) the risks and benefits to the popu16 lation of individuals age 18 and under, includ17 ing users and nonusers of marijuana products; 

18 (B) the increased or decreased likelihood 

19 that existing users of marijuana products who 

20 are age 18 and under will stop using such prod21 ucts; and 

22 (C) the increased or decreased likelihood 

23 that those age 18 and under who do not use 

24 marijuana products will start using such prod25 ucts; and 


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1 (2) impose restrictions on the advertising and 

2 promotion of products related to marijuana con3 sistent with and to the full extent permitted by the 

4 First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

5 States. 

6 SEC. 7. GRANTS FOR EXPUNGEMENT OF MARIJUANA CON7 VICTIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attor9 ney General to award grants to States and units of local 

10 government for the purpose of administering, expanding, 

11 or developing expungement or sealing programs for convic12 tions of possession of marijuana $20,000,000 for each of 

13 fiscal years 2019 through 2023 with not less than 50 per14 cent of those funds being directed to cover the cost of pub15 lic defenders or legal aid providers. 

16 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

17 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

18 Act, may be construed to modify the authority of the Fed19 eral Government to prevent marijuana trafficking from 

20 States that have legalized marijuana to those that have 

21 not. 

Æ 


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