On July 14, 2021 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Senator Cory Booker released a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), proposed language that would remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances and empower states to implement their own cannabis laws. In addition, these Senate offices solicited public comment on this language to “spur a robust discussion among stakeholders in order to inform Sponsoring Offices as they work to craft a final legislative proposal.”

We applaud these three Senate pioneers for their courage and leadership on this important issue. The future of the CAOA will mark the moment when cannabis reform at the federal level took its next great leap; creating the next great American industry while also providing restorative justice to those most harmed by the racist war on drugs.