Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 420 To provide for the regulation of marijuana products, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2019 Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on En- ergy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and Agri- culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the regulation of marijuana products, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulate Marijuana 4 Like Alcohol Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 420 IH TITLE II—REGULATION 1 Subtitle A—Amendments To De- 2 criminalize Marijuana at the 3 Federal Level 4 SEC. 201. DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA. 5 (a) REMOVAL FROM SCHEDULE OF CONTROLLED 6 SUBSTANCES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 7 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 8 the Attorney General shall, not later than 60 days after 9 the date of the enactment of this Act, issue a final order 10 that removes marijuana in any form from all schedules 11 under section 202(c) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)). 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO REMOVE LEGIS- 13 LATIVE DEADWOOD.—Subsection (c) of section 202 of the 14 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) is amended 15 to read as follows: 16 ‘‘(c) CROSS REFERENCE TO SCHEDULES OF CON- 17 TROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Schedules I, II, III, IV, and V 18 shall consist of the drugs and other substances (by what- 19 ever official name, common or usual name, chemical name, 20 or brand name designated) that are set forth in the respec- 21 tive schedules in part 1308 of title 21, Code of Federal 22 Regulations, as they may be amended from time to time, 23 or in any successor regulation.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 420 IH SEC. 202. APPLICATION OF THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES 1 ACT AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT 2 AND EXPORT ACT TO MARIJUANA. 3 Part A of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 4 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘SEC. 103. APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA. 7 ‘‘(a) GENERAL NONAPPLICATION.—Except as pro- 8 vided in this section, this title and title III do not apply 9 to marihuana. 10 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION: PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN TRANS- 11 PORTATIONS AND SHIPMENTS.—It shall be unlawful to 12 ship or transport marihuana from any place outside a 13 State, territory, or district of the United States, or other 14 place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction of 15 the United States, into that State, territory, or district 16 of the United States, or place, when such marihuana is 17 intended by any person interested therein to be received, 18 possessed, sold, or in any manner used, in violation of any 19 law of such State, territory, district, or place. 20 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly violates sub- 21 section (b) shall be fined under title 18, United States 22 Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.’’. 23 SEC. 203. CONFORMING AND ANCILLARY AMENDMENTS. 24 (a) MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF ‘‘FELONY 25 DRUG OFFENSE’’.—Section 102(44) of the Controlled 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 420 IH Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(44)) is amended by strik- 1 ing ‘‘marihuana,’’. 2 (b) ELIMINATION OF MARIJUANA PENALTY PROVI- 3 SIONS.—Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 4 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) in section 401— 6 (A) by striking subsection (b)(1)(A)(vii); 7 (B) by striking subsection (b)(1)(B)(vii); 8 (C) by striking subsection (b)(1)(D); and 9 (D) by striking subsection (b)(4); 10 (2) in section 402(c)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘mari- 11 huana,’’; 12 (3) in section 403(d)(1), by striking ‘‘mari- 13 huana,’’; 14 (4) in section 418(a), by striking the last sen- 15 tence; 16 (5) in section 419(a), by striking the last sen- 17 tence; 18 (6) in section 422(d), in the matter preceding 19 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘marijuana,’’; and 20 (7) in section 422(d)(5), by striking ‘‘, such as 21 a marihuana cigarette,’’. 22 (c) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EX- 23 PORT.—Section 1010 of the Controlled Substances Import 24 and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 420 IH (1) by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection 1 (b)(1); 2 (2) by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection 3 (b)(2); and 4 (3) by striking paragraph (4) of subsection (b). 5 (d) LIMITING THE APPLICATION OF THE NATIONAL 6 FOREST SYSTEM DRUG CONTROL ACT OF 1986 TO CON- 7 TROLLED SUBSTANCES OTHER THAN MARIJUANA.—The 8 National Forest System Drug Control Act of 1986 is 9 amended— 10 (1) in section 15002(a) (16 U.S.C. 559b(a)) by 11 striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 12 (2) in section 15003(2) (16 U.S.C. 559c(2)) by 13 striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; and 14 (3) in section 15004(2) (16 U.S.C. 559d(2)) by 15 striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’. 16 (e) INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 17 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 18 (1) in subsection (1)(e), by striking ‘‘mari- 19 huana,’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (2) by striking ‘‘marihuana,’’. 21 (f) NATIONAL YOUTH ANTI-DRUG MEDIA CAM- 22 PAIGN.—Section 709 of the Office of National Drug Con- 23 trol Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1708) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 420 IH is amended by striking subsection (j) (relating to preven- 1 tion of marijuana use). 2 Subtitle B—Federal Marijuana 3 Licensing and Related Matters 4 SEC. 211. FEDERAL MARIJUANA ADMINISTRATION. 5 The Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 6 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘TITLE III—MARIJUANA 9 ‘‘SEC. 301. UNLAWFUL BUSINESSES WITHOUT MARIJUANA 10 PERMIT. 11 ‘‘(a) IMPORT.—It shall be unlawful, except pursuant 12 to a permit issued under this title by the Secretary of the 13 Treasury (hereinafter in this title referred to as the ‘Sec- 14 retary’)— 15 ‘‘(1) to engage in the business of importing 16 marijuana into the United States; or 17 ‘‘(2) for any person so engaged to sell, offer or 18 deliver for sale, contract to sell, or ship, in interstate 19 or foreign commerce, directly or indirectly or 20 through an affiliate, marijuana so imported. 21 ‘‘(b) MANUFACTURE AND SALE.—It shall be unlaw- 22 ful, except pursuant to a permit issued under this title 23 by the Secretary— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 420 IH ‘‘(1) to engage in the business of cultivating, 1 producing, manufacturing, packaging, or warehous- 2 ing marijuana; or 3 ‘‘(2) for any person so engaged to sell, offer or 4 deliver for sale, contract to sell, or ship, in interstate 5 or foreign commerce, directly or indirectly or 6 through an affiliate, marijuana so cultivated, pro- 7 duced, manufactured, packaged, or warehoused. 8 ‘‘(c) RESALE.—It shall be unlawful, except pursuant 9 to a permit issued under this title by the Secretary— 10 ‘‘(1) to engage in the business of purchasing 11 marijuana for resale at wholesale; or 12 ‘‘(2) for any person so engaged to receive or to 13 sell, offer or deliver for sale, contract to sell, or ship, 14 in interstate or foreign commerce, directly or indi- 15 rectly or through an affiliate, marijuana so pur- 16 chased. 17 ‘‘(d) REMEDIES FOR VIOLATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(1) CRIMINAL FINE.— 19 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—Whoever violates this 20 section shall be fined not more than $1,000. 21 ‘‘(B) SETTLEMENT IN COMPROMISE.—The 22 Secretary may decide not to refer a violation of 23 this section to the Attorney General for pros- 24 ecution but instead to collect a payment from 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 420 IH the violator of no more than $500 for that vio- 1 lation. 2 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION FOR RELIEF.—The Attorney 3 General may, in a civil action, obtain appropriate re- 4 lief to prevent and restrain a violation of this title. 5 ‘‘SEC. 302. PROCEDURE FOR ISSUANCE OF MARIJUANA 6 PERMITS. 7 ‘‘(a) WHO ENTITLED TO PERMIT.— 8 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The Secretary shall issue a 9 permit for operations requiring a permit under sec- 10 tion 301 unless the Secretary finds that— 11 ‘‘(A) the applicant (or if the applicant is a 12 corporation, any of its officers, directors, or 13 principal stockholders) has been convicted of a 14 disqualifying offense; 15 ‘‘(B) the applicant is, by reason of busi- 16 ness experience, financial standing, or trade 17 connections, not likely to commence operations 18 within a reasonable period or to maintain such 19 operations in conformity with Federal law; or 20 ‘‘(C) the operations proposed to be con- 21 ducted by the applicant are in violation of the 22 law of the State in which they are to be con- 23 ducted. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 420 IH ‘‘(2) DISQUALIFYING OFFENSES.—For the pur- 1 poses of paragraph (1)— 2 ‘‘(A) GENERALLY.—Except as provided in 3 subparagraph (B) a disqualifying offense is an 4 offense related to the production, consumption, 5 or sale of marijuana that is— 6 ‘‘(i) a felony under Federal or State 7 law, if the conviction occurred not later 8 than 5 years before the date of the applica- 9 tion; or 10 ‘‘(ii) a misdemeanor under Federal 11 law, if the conviction occurred not later 12 than 3 years before the date of the applica- 13 tion. 14 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED OFFENSES.—A disquali- 15 fying offense does not include a Federal or 16 State offense based on conduct that— 17 ‘‘(i) was legal under State law in the 18 State when and where the conduct took 19 place; or 20 ‘‘(ii) is, as of the date of the applica- 21 tion, no longer an offense in that State. 22 ‘‘(b) REFUSAL OF PERMIT; HEARING.—If upon ex- 23 amination of any application for a permit the Secretary 24 has reason to believe that the applicant is not entitled to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 420 IH such permit, the Secretary shall so notify the applicant 1 and, upon request by the applicant, afford the applicant 2 due notice and opportunity for hearing on the application. 3 If the Secretary, after affording such notice and oppor- 4 tunity for hearing, still finds that the applicant is not enti- 5 tled to a permit hereunder, the Secretary shall by order 6 deny the application stating the findings which are the 7 basis for the order. 8 ‘‘(c) FORM OF APPLICATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The Secretary shall— 10 ‘‘(A) prescribe the manner and form of ap- 11 plications for permits under this title (including 12 the facts to be set forth in the application); 13 ‘‘(B) prescribe the form of such permits; 14 and 15 ‘‘(C) specify in any permit the authority 16 conferred by the permit and the conditions of 17 that permit in accordance with this title. 18 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE TYPES OF APPLICATIONS AND 19 PERMITS.—To the extent deemed necessary by the 20 Secretary for the efficient administration of this 21 title, the Secretary may require separate applications 22 and permits with respect to the various classes of 23 marijuana, and with respect to the various classes of 24 persons entitled to permits under this title. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 420 IH ‘‘(3) DISCLAIMER.—The issuance of a permit 1 under this title does not deprive the United States 2 of any remedy for a violation of law. 3 ‘‘(d) CONDITIONS.—A permit under this title shall be 4 conditioned upon— 5 ‘‘(1) compliance with all other Federal laws re- 6 lating to production, sale and consumption of mari- 7 juana, as well as compliance with all State laws re- 8 lating to said activities in the State in which the per- 9 mit applicant resides and does business; and 10 ‘‘(2) payment to the Secretary of a reasonable 11 permit fee in an amount determined by the Sec- 12 retary to be sufficient over time to offset the cost of 13 implementing and overseeing all aspects of mari- 14 juana regulation by the Federal Government. 15 ‘‘(e) REVOCATION, SUSPENSION, AND ANNUL- 16 MENT.— 17 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—After due notice and oppor- 18 tunity for hearing, the Secretary may order a permit 19 under this title— 20 ‘‘(A) revoked or suspended for such period 21 as the Secretary deems appropriate, if the Sec- 22 retary finds that the permittee has willfully vio- 23 lated any of the conditions of the permit, but 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H420.IH H420 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 420 IH for a first violation of the conditions the permit 1 shall be subject to suspension only; 2 ‘‘(B) revoked if the Secretary finds that 3 the permittee has not engaged in the operations 4 authorized by the permit for a period of more 5 than 2 years; or 6 ‘‘(C) annulled if the Secretary finds that 7 the permit was procured through fraud, or mis- 8 representation, or concealment of material fact. 9 ‘‘(2) ORDER TO STATE BASIS FOR ORDER.— 10 The order shall state the findings which are the 11 basis for the order. 12 ‘‘(f) SERVICE OF ORDERS.—Each order of the Sec- 13 retary with respect to any denial of application, suspen- 14 sion, revocation, annulment, or other proceedings, shall be 15 served— 16 ‘‘(1) in person by any officer or employee of the 17 Secretary designated by him or any internal revenue 18 or customs officer authorized by the Secretary for 19 the purpose; or 20 ‘‘(2) by mailing the order by registered mail, 21 addressed to the applicant or respondent at his last 22 known address in the records of the Secretary. 23 ‘‘(g) DURATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 [Text truncated for display. 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