Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The DEA Rescheduling Cannabis And The Reintroduction Of The Cannabis Administration And Opportunity Act

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the DEA reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III substance and on the reintroduction today of the Cannabis Administration And Opportunity Act. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Over the decades, millions of Americans – most often Americans of color – have had their lives derailed and destroyed by our country’s failed War on Drugs. The consequences of this harmful campaign linger on to this very day.

So, I was pleased by yesterday’s news that the DEA, under the Biden Administration, is preparing to take a truly historic step: rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

Reclassifying cannabis is a necessary and long overdue step – but it is not at all the end of the story. It’s time for Congress to wake up to the times and do its part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have long called for. It’s past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and to catch up with the science.

So today, I am proud to join with my colleagues Senators Booker and Wyden to reintroduce the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a comprehensive and necessary update to the federal government’s approach to cannabis.

I am proud to be the first Majority Leader ever to call for an end to the marijuana prohibition, because I’ve seen both the consequences of outdated drug laws and the benefits of commonsense cannabis regulation at the state level – and it’s time for Congress to follow suit.

Support for cannabis reform is growing in the Senate – our bill now has 18 sponsors, the most ever for this bill. And we’ll keep working to build more support, because when liberals and conservatives and activists and entrepreneurs and veteran groups can all come together on one issue, that’s a clear sign that the momentum is real.

I am very proud of the bill we’re releasing today. Our legislation will finally remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances.

It will expunge the criminal records of so many Americans with low-level marijuana offenses that haunt them – inhibit them – for decades.

And it will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful and harmful and failed War on Drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color.

In short, our bill is about individual freedom and basic fairness. We cannot tolerate any longer the tragedy of a young person getting arrested because they have a small amount of marijuana in their pocket.

For years that’s all it took – getting caught with a little bit of marijuana – for you to get saddled with a serious criminal record that prevented you from getting a good job, buying a good home, getting ahead in life.

And of course, this injustice happens predominately in Black and Latino communities. That is unfair, it’s un-American, and our bill would right this grave wrong.

And in place of the War on Drugs, our bill would lay the foundation for something very different: a just and responsible and commonsense approach to cannabis regulation.

It would call for new guidelines on how marijuana products are labeled, require new standards to prevent impaired driving, require HHS and NIH to support research into cannabis’s health impacts, and more.

Our bill, if passed, would close the door on outdated and very harmful modes of thinking at the federal level, while allowing for reform and sensible regulation to take root.

So again, I want to thank Senators Booker and Wyden for being terrific partners in putting this bill together. It’s been a longstanding effort, one that’s required a lot of feedback from the public and a lot of perseverance.

As Senate Majority Leader, I will continue to push for every chance we get to bring federal cannabis policy into the twenty-first century – and passing our bill would be an excellent way to make that happen.

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