II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 683 

To extend the principle of federalism to State drug policy, provide access 

to medical marijuana, and enable research into the medicinal properties 

of marijuana. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2015 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. PAUL) introduced the 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To extend the principle of federalism to State drug policy, 

provide access to medical marijuana, and enable research 

into the medicinal properties of marijuana. 

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 ‘‘Compassionate Access, 

5 Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015’’ or 

6 the ‘‘CARERS Act of 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FEDERALISM IN DRUG POLICY. 

8 Section 708 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

9 U.S.C. 903) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘No provision’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

4 (b), no provision’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW.—Notwith7 standing any other provision of law, the provisions of this 

8 title relating to marihuana shall not apply to any person 

9 acting in compliance with State law relating to the produc10 tion, possession, distribution, dispensation, administra11 tion, laboratory testing, or delivery of medical mari12 huana.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. RESCHEDULING OF MARIHUANA. 

14 (a) REMOVAL FROM SCHEDULE I.—Schedule I, as 

15 set forth in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances 

16 Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)), is amended in subsection (c)— 

17 (1) by striking paragraphs (10) and (17); 

18 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 

19 (16) as paragraphs (10) through (15), respectively; 

20 and 

21 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (18) through 

22 (28) as paragraphs (16) through (26), respectively. 

23 (b) LISTING IN SCHEDULE II.—Schedule II, as set 

24 forth in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act 


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1 (21 U.S.C. 812(c)), is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(d) Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in 

4 another schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or 

5 preparation, which contains any quantity of marihuana, 

6 including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION OF CANNABIDIOL FROM DEFINITION OF 

8 MARIHUANA. 

9 Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

10 U.S.C. 802) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (16)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘or cake, or the sterilized’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘cake, the sterilized’’; and 

14 (B) by adding ‘‘, or cannabidiol’’ before 

15 the period at the end; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(57) The term ‘cannabidiol’ means the sub18 stance cannabidiol, as derived from marihuana or 

19 the synthetic formulation, that contains not greater 

20 than 0.3 percent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on a 

21 dry weight basis.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION BY STATES. 

23 Section 201 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

24 U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(j) CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION.—If a person 

2 grows or processes marihuana for purposes of making 

3 cannabidiol in accordance with State law, the marihuana 

4 shall be deemed to meet the concentration limitation under 

5 section 102(57), unless the Attorney General determines 

6 that the State law is not reasonably calculated to comply 

7 with section 102(57).’’. 

8 SEC. 6. BANKING. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘depository institution’’ means— 

11 (A) a depository institution as defined in 

12 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

13 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)); 

14 (B) a Federal credit union as defined in 

15 section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 

16 (12 U.S.C. 1752); or 

17 (C) a State credit union as defined in sec18 tion 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 

19 U.S.C. 1752); 

20 (2) the term ‘‘Federal banking regulator’’ 

21 means each of the Board of Governors of the Fed22 eral Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Fi23 nancial Protection, the Federal Deposit Insurance 

24 Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the 

25 Currency, the National Credit Union AdministraVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Mar 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S683.IS S683

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1 tion, or any Federal agency or department that reg2 ulates banking or financial services, as determined 

3 by the Secretary of the Treasury; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘financial service’’ means a finan5 cial product or service as defined in section 1002 of 

6 the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

7 Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5481); 

8 (4) the term ‘‘manufacturer’’ means a person 

9 who manufactures, compounds, converts, processes, 

10 prepares, or packages marijuana or marijuana prod11 ucts; 

12 (5) the term ‘‘marijuana-related legitimate busi13 ness’’ means a manufacturer, producer, or any per14 son that— 

15 (A) participates in any business or orga16 nized activity that involves handling marijuana 

17 or marijuana products, including selling, trans18 porting, displaying, dispensing, or distributing 

19 marijuana or marijuana products; and 

20 (B) engages in such activity pursuant to a 

21 law established by a State or a unite of local 

22 government; 

23 (6) the term ‘‘marijuana’’ has the meaning 

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


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1 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802), as 

2 amended by this Act; 

3 (7) the term ‘‘marijuana product’’ means any 

4 article that contains marijuana, including an article 

5 that is a concentrate, an edible, a tincture, a mari6 juana-infused product, or a topical; 

7 (8) the term ‘‘producer’’ means a person who 

8 plants, cultivates, harvests, or in any way facilitates 

9 the natural growth of marijuana; and 

10 (9) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

11 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 

12 any territory or possession of the United States. 

13 (b) SAFE HARBOR FOR DEPOSITORY INSTITU14 TIONS.—A Federal banking regulator may not— 

15 (1) terminate or limit the deposit insurance of 

16 a depository institution under the Federal Deposit 

17 Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) or the Fed18 eral Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) sole19 ly because the depository institution provides or has 

20 provided financial services to a marijuana-related le21 gitimate business; 

22 (2) prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage a 

23 depository institution from providing financial serv24 ices to a marijuana-related legitimate business; 


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1 (3) recommend, incentivize, or encourage a de2 pository institution not to offer financial services to 

3 an individual, or to downgrade or cancel the finan4 cial services offered to an individual solely because— 

5 (A) the individual is a manufacturer or 

6 producer of marijuana; 

7 (B) the individual is the owner or operator 

8 of a marijuana-related legitimate business; 

9 (C) the individual later becomes an owner 

10 or operator of a marijuana-related legitimate 

11 business; or 

12 (D) the depository institution was not 

13 aware that the individual is the owner or oper14 ator of a marijuana-related legitimate business; 

15 or 

16 (4) take any adverse or corrective supervisory 

17 action on a loan to an owner or operator of— 

18 (A) a marijuana-related legitimate business 

19 solely because the owner or operator is a mari20 juana-related business; or 

21 (B) real estate or equipment that is leased 

22 to a marijuana-related legitimate business solely 

23 because the owner or operator of the real estate 

24 or equipment leased the real estate or equip25 ment to a marijuana-related business. 


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1 (c) PROTECTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW.— 

2 (1) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION.—A de3 pository institution that provides financial services 

4 to a marijuana-related legitimate business, or the of5 ficers, directors, and employees of that business, 

6 shall be immune from Federal criminal prosecution 

7 or investigation for providing those services. 

8 (2) FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW.—A depository in9 stitution that provides financial services to a mari10 juana-related legitimate business shall not be subject 

11 to a criminal penalty under any Federal law solely 

12 for providing those services or for further investing 

13 any income derived from such services. 

14 (3) FORFEITURE.—A depository institution 

15 that has a legal interest in the collateral for a loan 

16 made to an owner or operator of a marijuana-related 

17 legitimate business, or to an owner or operator of 

18 real estate or equipment that is leased to a mari19 juana-related legitimate business, shall not be sub20 ject to criminal, civil, or administrative forfeiture of 

21 that legal interest pursuant to any Federal law for 

22 providing such loan. 

23 (d) EXEMPTION FROM FILING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

24 REPORTS.—Section 5318(g) of title 31, United States 

25 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR MARIJUANA-RELATED

2 LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES.—If a financial institution 

3 or any director, officer, employee, or agent of a fi4 nancial institution reports a suspicious transaction 

5 pursuant to this subsection, and the reason for the 

6 report relates to a marijuana-related business, the 

7 Secretary shall require that such report complies 

8 with the requirements of the guidance issued by the 

9 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network titled ‘BSA 

10 Expectations Regarding Marijuana-Related Busi11 nesses’ (FIN–2014–G001; published on February 

12 14, 2014).’’. 

13 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion requires a depository institution to provide financial 

15 services to a marijuana-related legitimate business. 

16 SEC. 7. RESEARCH. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary for Health 

19 and Human Services shall terminate the Public Health 

20 Service interdisciplinary review process described in the 

21 guidance entitled ‘‘Guidance on Procedures for the Provi22 sion of Marijuana for Medical Research’’ (issued on May 

23 21, 1999). 

24 (b) LICENSES FOR MARIJUANA RESEARCH .—Not 

25 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 


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1 the Attorney General, acting through the Drug Enforce2 ment Administration, shall issue not less than 3 licenses 

3 under section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

4 U.S.C. 823) to manufacture marijuana and marijuana-de5 rivatives for research approved by the Food and Drug Ad6 ministration. 

7 SEC. 8. PROVISION BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF8 FAIRS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS OF REC9 OMMENDATIONS AND OPINIONS REGARDING 

10 VETERAN PARTICIPATION IN STATE MARI11 JUANA PROGRAMS. 

12 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec13 retary of Veterans Affairs shall authorize physicians and 

14 other health care providers employed by the Department 

15 of Veterans Affairs to— 

16 (1) provide recommendations and opinions to 

17 veterans who are residents of States with State 

18 marijuana programs regarding the participation of 

19 veterans in such State marijuana programs; and 

20 (2) complete forms reflecting such recommenda21 tions and opinions. 

Æ 


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