STATES Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1028 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 4, 2019 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. PAUL, Mr. SUL- LIVAN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to mari- huana, 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 ‘‘Strengthening the 4 Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘STATES Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1028 IS SEC. 2. RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA. 1 Part G of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 2 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA 5 ‘‘SEC. 710. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 6 of law, the provisions of this title as applied to marihuana, 7 other than the provisions described in subsection (c) and 8 other than as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply 9 to any person acting in compliance with State law relating 10 to the manufacture, production, possession, distribution, 11 dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana. 12 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 13 provisions of this title related to marihuana, other than 14 the provisions described in subsection (c) and other than 15 as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply to any person 16 acting in compliance with the law of a Federally recog- 17 nized Indian tribe within its jurisdiction in Indian Coun- 18 try, as defined in section 1151 of title 18, United States 19 Code, related to the manufacture, production, possession, 20 distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of 21 marihuana so long as such jurisdiction is located within 22 a State that permits, respectively, manufacture, produc- 23 tion, possession, distribution, dispensation, administra- 24 tion, or delivery of marihuana. 25 ‘‘(c) The provisions described in this subsection are— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1028 IS ‘‘(1) section 401(a)(1), with respect to a viola- 1 tion of section 409 or 418; 2 ‘‘(2) section 409; 3 ‘‘(3) section 417; and 4 ‘‘(4) section 418. 5 ‘‘(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any person 6 who— 7 ‘‘(1) violates the Controlled Substances Act 8 with respect to any other controlled substance; 9 ‘‘(2) notwithstanding compliance with State or 10 tribal law, knowingly or intentionally manufactures, 11 produces, possesses, distributes, dispenses, admin- 12 isters, or delivers any other marihuana in violation 13 of the laws of the State or tribe in which such man- 14 ufacture, production, possession, distribution, dis- 15 pensation, administration, or delivery occurs; or 16 ‘‘(3) employs or hires any person under 18 17 years of age to manufacture, produce, distribute, 18 dispense, administer, or deliver marihuana.’’. 19 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY OFFENSES. 20 Section 409 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 21 U.S.C. 849) is amended— 22 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 23 paragraph (1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1028 IS (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per- 2 son’’; and 3 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 5 (2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 6 paragraph (1)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per- 9 son’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in- 11 serting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (b) and (c) shall not 14 apply to any person who possesses, or possesses with in- 15 tent to distribute marihuana in compliance with section 16 710.’’. 17 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER AGE 21. 18 Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 19 U.S.C. 859) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 21 inserting ‘‘and subsection (c) of this section’’ after 22 ‘‘section 419’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1028 IS (2) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 1 inserting ‘‘and subsection (c) of this section’’ after 2 ‘‘section 419’’; and 3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any 5 person at least 18 years of age who distributes medicinal 6 marihuana to a person under 21 years of age in compli- 7 ance with section 710.’’. 8 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON EFFECTS OF 9 MARIHUANA LEGALIZATION ON TRAFFIC 10 SAFETY. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 12 United States shall conduct a study on the effects of mari- 13 huana legalization on traffic safety. 14 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The study conducted under sub- 15 section (a) shall include a detailed assessment of— 16 (1) traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries in 17 States that have legalized marihuana use, including 18 whether States are able to accurately evaluate mari- 19 huana impairment in those incidents; 20 (2) actions taken by the States referred to in 21 paragraph (1) to address marihuana-impaired driv- 22 ing, including any challenges faced in addressing 23 marihuana-impaired driving; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1028 IS (3) testing standards used by the States re- 1 ferred to in paragraph (1) to evaluate marihuana 2 impairment in traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries, 3 including any scientific methods used to determine 4 impairment and analyze data; and 5 (4) Federal initiatives aiming to assist States 6 that have legalized marihuana with traffic safety, in- 7 cluding recommendations for policies and programs 8 to be carried out by the National Highway Traffic 9 Safety Administration. 10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 11 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 12 United States shall submit to the appropriate committees 13 of Congress a report on the results of the study conducted 14 under subsection (a). 15 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Conduct in compliance with this 17 Act and the amendments made by this Act— 18 (1) shall not be unlawful; 19 (2) shall not constitute trafficking in a con- 20 trolled substance under section 401 of the Controlled 21 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841) or any other provi- 22 sion of law; and 23 (3) shall not constitute the basis for forfeiture 24 of property under section 511 of the Controlled Sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1028 IS stances Act (21 U.S.C. 881) or section 981 of title 1 18, United States Code. 2 (b) PROCEEDS.—The proceeds from any transaction 3 in compliance with this Act and the amendments made 4 by this Act shall not be deemed to be the proceeds of an 5 unlawful transaction under section 1956 or 1957 of title 6 18, United States Code, or any other provision of law. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS