II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1028 

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 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, 

Mr. CRAMER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. PAUL, Mr. SULLIVAN, and Mr. WYDEN) 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 ‘‘Strengthening the 

5 Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘STATES Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA. 

2 Part G of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

3 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA

6 ‘‘SEC. 710. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 

7 of law, the provisions of this title as applied to marihuana, 

8 other than the provisions described in subsection (c) and 

9 other than as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply 

10 to any person acting in compliance with State law relating 

11 to the manufacture, production, possession, distribution, 

12 dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana. 

13 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

14 provisions of this title related to marihuana, other than 

15 the provisions described in subsection (c) and other than 

16 as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply to any person 

17 acting in compliance with the law of a Federally recog18 nized Indian tribe within its jurisdiction in Indian Coun19 try, as defined in section 1151 of title 18, United States 

20 Code, related to the manufacture, production, possession, 

21 distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of 

22 marihuana so long as such jurisdiction is located within 

23 a State that permits, respectively, manufacture, produc24 tion, possession, distribution, dispensation, administra25 tion, or delivery of marihuana. 

26 ‘‘(c) The provisions described in this subsection are— 


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1 ‘‘(1) section 401(a)(1), with respect to a viola2 tion of section 409 or 418; 

3 ‘‘(2) section 409; 

4 ‘‘(3) section 417; and 

5 ‘‘(4) section 418. 

6 ‘‘(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any person 

7 who— 

8 ‘‘(1) violates the Controlled Substances Act 

9 with respect to any other controlled substance; 

10 ‘‘(2) notwithstanding compliance with State or 

11 tribal law, knowingly or intentionally manufactures, 

12 produces, possesses, distributes, dispenses, admin13 isters, or delivers any other marihuana in violation 

14 of the laws of the State or tribe in which such man15 ufacture, production, possession, distribution, dis16 pensation, administration, or delivery occurs; or 

17 ‘‘(3) employs or hires any person under 18 

18 years of age to manufacture, produce, distribute, 

19 dispense, administer, or deliver marihuana.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY OFFENSES. 

21 Section 409 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

22 U.S.C. 849) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

24 paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per3 son’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 

7 paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per10 son’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (b) and (c) shall not 

15 apply to any person who possesses, or possesses with in16 tent to distribute marihuana in compliance with section 

17 710.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER AGE 21. 

19 Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

20 U.S.C. 859) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 

22 inserting ‘‘and subsection (c) of this section’’ after 

23 ‘‘section 419’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 

2 inserting ‘‘and subsection (c) of this section’’ after 

3 ‘‘section 419’’; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any 

6 person at least 18 years of age who distributes medicinal 

7 marihuana to a person under 21 years of age in compli8 ance with section 710.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON EFFECTS OF 

10 MARIHUANA LEGALIZATION ON TRAFFIC 

11 SAFETY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

13 United States shall conduct a study on the effects of mari14 huana legalization on traffic safety. 

15 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The study conducted under sub16 section (a) shall include a detailed assessment of— 

17 (1) traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries in 

18 States that have legalized marihuana use, including 

19 whether States are able to accurately evaluate mari20 huana impairment in those incidents; 

21 (2) actions taken by the States referred to in 

22 paragraph (1) to address marihuana-impaired driv23 ing, including any challenges faced in addressing 

24 marihuana-impaired driving; 


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1 (3) testing standards used by the States re2 ferred to in paragraph (1) to evaluate marihuana 

3 impairment in traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries, 

4 including any scientific methods used to determine 

5 impairment and analyze data; and 

6 (4) Federal initiatives aiming to assist States 

7 that have legalized marihuana with traffic safety, in8 cluding recommendations for policies and programs 

9 to be carried out by the National Highway Traffic 

10 Safety Administration. 

11 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

13 United States shall submit to the appropriate committees 

14 of Congress a report on the results of the study conducted 

15 under subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Conduct in compliance with this 

18 Act and the amendments made by this Act— 

19 (1) shall not be unlawful; 

20 (2) shall not constitute trafficking in a con21 trolled substance under section 401 of the Controlled 

22 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841) or any other provi23 sion of law; and 

24 (3) shall not constitute the basis for forfeiture 

25 of property under section 511 of the Controlled SubVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028

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1 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 881) or section 981 of title 

2 18, United States Code. 

3 (b) PROCEEDS.—The proceeds from any transaction 

4 in compliance with this Act and the amendments made 

5 by this Act shall not be deemed to be the proceeds of an 

6 unlawful transaction under section 1956 or 1957 of title 

7 18, United States Code, or any other provision of law. 

Æ 


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