IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 960 
Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis 
marketplace. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 11, 2024 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 
ADAMS, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
to the Committees on the Judiciary, Education and the Workforce, and 
Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and 
the legal cannabis marketplace. 
Whereas persons and communities continue to be negatively 
impacted by cannabis policies and marijuana’s status as 
a scheduled substance under the Controlled Substances 
Act; 
Whereas the persons and communities that have been most 
harmed by marijuana prohibition are benefitting the least 
from the legal cannabis marketplace and other cannabis 
policy reforms; 
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•HRES 960 IH 
Whereas a legacy of racial and ethnic injustices, compounded 
by the disproportionate collateral consequences of 80 
years of marijuana prohibition and enforcement, now lim-
its access to public benefits, such as nutritional assist-
ance, housing, education and economic opportunities, in-
cluding participation in the cannabis industry; 
Whereas 24 States as well as the District of Columbia and 
the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mar-
iana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands have legalized 
cannabis use for adults and 38 now allow some form of 
medical cannabis; 
Whereas the United States cannabis market currently stands 
at around $65 billion in annual revenue, and by 2030, 
this number is expected to balloon to $100 billion if can-
nabis is federally legalized; 
Whereas the failed war on drugs has cost the United States 
roughly $1 trillion, with economists estimating that 
criminal justice expenditures related to the marijuana 
prohibition costs States roughly $6 billion and the Fed-
eral Government $4 billion per year; 
Whereas people of color have been historically victimized by 
discriminatory sentencing practices, resulting in Black 
men receiving drug sentences that are 13.4 times greater 
than sentences imposed for White men, and non-White 
persons accounted for 86.5 percent of cannabis convic-
tions; 
Whereas, according to the ACLU, Black people are 3.64 
times more likely than White people to be arrested for 
cannabis possession, even though usage rates are com-
parable; 
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•HRES 960 IH 
Whereas hundreds of thousands of people continue to be ar-
rested every year for cannabis violations, primarily at the 
State level, and that the Federal placement of cannabis 
in the Controlled Substances Act is often cited as a rea-
son for States not to legalize cannabis; 
Whereas the decriminalization of cannabis possession has 
proved to reduce the disparity in arrest rates between 
Black and White men by almost 20 percent, as well as 
reducing total arrest rates by over 70 percent among 
adults; 
Whereas the criminalization of cannabis results in the deten-
tion and subsequent deportation of countless immigrants 
seeking to build better lives for themselves and their fam-
ilies in the United States; 
Whereas, as a noncitizen merely working for a State-licensed 
marijuana business and otherwise fully compliant with all 
Federal and State laws can still be deported due to the 
placement of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act; 
Whereas cannabis policies continue to punish people for per-
sonal cannabis use and possession, as well as legal 
records and consequences associated with cannabis viola-
tions; 
Whereas non-White ownership of cannabis businesses shrank 
in 2022 to 15.4 percent from 20.7 percent in 2021; 
Whereas cannabis businesses are limited by numerous laws, 
regulations, taxes, and prohibitive permit applications 
and licensing fees in these States, which can total more 
than $100,000, with annual renewal fees also exceeding 
$100,000; 
Whereas historically disproportionate arrest and conviction 
rates make it particularly difficult for people of color to 
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•HRES 960 IH 
enter the legal cannabis marketplace, as most States bar 
these individuals from participating; 
Whereas Federal law severely limits access to loans and cap-
ital for cannabis businesses, disproportionately impacting 
minority small business owners; 
Whereas the World Health Organization reported that about 
2.5 percent of the global population use cannabis, and 
disparate legal outcomes pertaining to the substance have 
been replicated in foreign states; 
Whereas cannabis and cannabis resin, including extracts and 
tinctures of cannabis, are classified by the United Na-
tions (UN) as a Schedule I drug under UN drug control 
treaties such as the Single Convention on Narcotic 
Drugs; 
Whereas the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug 
is outdated and the U.S. should be leading the way on 
cannabis reform at the multilateral level; 
Whereas foreign states such as Canada, Luxembourg, Malta, 
Thailand, and Uruguay have legalized cannabis for rec-
reational use, and multiple others including Mexico, 
Georgia, Germany, Ghana, and South Africa have taken 
steps to legalize cannabis; 
Whereas additional foreign states would reevaluate how can-
nabis is classified in their countries if the United Nations 
did so; and 
Whereas an increasing number of States and municipalities 
have taken proactive steps to acknowledge and address 
the harms of cannabis criminalization, advance equity in 
cannabis policy, and mitigate inequalities in the legal 
cannabis marketplace: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Realizing Equitable 
& Sustainable Participation in Emerging Cannabis Trades 
Resolution’’ or the ‘‘RESPECT Resolution’’. 
SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES AND STEPS TO ADVANCE EQUITY 
IN CANNABIS POLICY; ADDRESS DISPARITIES 
IN THE CANNABIS MARKETPLACE PARTICIPA-
TION; ADDRESS, REVERSE, AND REPAIR CER-
TAIN EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON DRUGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The House of Representatives en-
courages States and localities to adopt best practices and 
take bold steps referred to in subsection (b) to advance 
equity in cannabis policy and address disparities in the 
cannabis marketplace participation and to address, re-
verse, and repair the most egregious effects of the War 
on Drugs on communities of color, in particular to those 
who now hold criminal records for a substance that is now 
legal and regulated. 
(b) BEST PRACTICES AND STEPS.—The practices 
and steps referred to in this subsection include— 
(1) eliminating State and local criminal pen-
alties for the possession and use of cannabis and en-
suring that public benefits cannot be denied to per-
sons due to a cannabis conviction; 
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•HRES 960 IH 
(2) establishing licensing and application fees 
that are reasonable to cover only the costs of pro-
gram implementation and necessary regulations; 
(3) creating a system where licensing is to be 
obtained at the city or county level and should be 
based on regulations determined by the local juris-
diction that meet the State’s minimum require-
ments, which allows the community to determine the 
type and number of businesses, avoids arbitrary caps 
on licenses, and results in an industry more rep-
resentative of the local market; 
(4) in States where license caps are completely 
unavoidable, establishing local oversight and control 
of cannabis licenses by allowing local cities and mu-
nicipalities to prioritize licenses for local citizens and 
residents, especially individuals most impacted by 
the War on Drugs, by taking into account and 
prioritizing— 
(A) long-term residency within the State or 
locality; 
(B) individuals whose income is less than 
80 percent of the median household income 
within a county; 
(C) individuals who have been formerly in-
carcerated; 
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•HRES 960 IH 
(D) individuals with prior drug law viola-
tions; 
(E) individuals living within a jurisdiction 
that is heavily policed; and 
(F) policies and regulations that truly pre-
vent large companies and wealthy investors 
from obtaining significant revenue generated by 
license holders who have been prioritized for 
ownership for the reasons described in subpara-
graphs (A) through (E) above and for equity- 
based prioritizations determined by the State; 
(5) adopting laws and implementing regulations 
that will allow small cultivators to thrive in the legal 
market; 
(6) creating more equitable licensing by— 
(A) eliminating broad felony restrictions 
for licensing; 
(B) focusing restrictions on entering the 
market to those, determined on a case-by-case 
basis for both licensees and employees, with 
criminal convictions that are relevant to the 
owning and operating of a business; and 
(C) prohibiting previous cannabis convic-
tions from consideration as justification for a 
denial of a license; 
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•HRES 960 IH 
(7) creating an automatic process, at no cost 
for the individual, for the expungement or sealing of 
criminal records for cannabis offenses that is inclu-
sive of individuals currently on parole or under any 
probationary agreement, for cannabis offenses, and 
provides 
notification 
and 
certification 
of 
the 
expungement or sealing; 
(8) establishing a process for resentencing per-
sons serving sentences for cannabis convictions and 
redesignating of penalties for persons previously con-
victed of cannabis-related crimes for which the pen-
alties have been reduced or removed; 
(9) eliminating suspicion-less drug testing for 
non safety-sensitive employment positions; 
(10) eliminating punishment or other penaliza-
tion for persons currently under parole, probation, 
or other State supervision, or released on bail await-
ing trial, for conduct otherwise allowed under State 
cannabis laws, and allowing the medical use of can-
nabis by incarcerated person if recommended by 
their physician; 
(11) setting aside a percentage of the tax rev-
enue from cannabis sales to be reinvested in commu-
nities that have been most affected by cannabis ar-
rests and the drug war, which most frequently have 
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•HRES 960 IH 
been communities of color, including programs for 
job training, reentry services, expungement expenses, 
public libraries, community centers, programs and 
opportunities dedicated to youth, and health edu-
cation programs; 
(12) using a percentage of tax revenue to estab-
lish a special fund to provide small business invest-
ments to support people of color entering into the 
legal cannabis industry; 
(13) establishing cannabis regulatory and over-
sight bodies and commissions that reflect the racial, 
ethnic, economic, and gender makeup of the sur-
rounding community; 
(14) creating employment and subcontracting 
requirements for cannabis licensees in order to use 
the ancillary business activity generated by the can-
nabis industry to employ people of color; and 
(15) including provisions designating spaces for 
public consumption, either by the licensing of social 
entities or by creating these spaces. 
SEC. 3. DESCHEDULING CANNABIS GLOBALLY. 
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the President should direct the U.S. Mission to the United 
Nations and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to seek 
to deschedule cannabis from the international drug control 
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treaties, expunge and forgive legal penalties relating to 
certain low-level marijuana offenses, and treat cannabis 
as a legal commodity. 
Æ 
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