STATES Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2093 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GAETZ, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CORREA, Mr. BUCK, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. CRIST, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Ms. TITUS, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. NEWHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2093 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening the 2 Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act’’ or 3 the ‘‘STATES Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA. 5 Part G of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 6 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘RULE REGARDING APPLICATION TO MARIHUANA 9 ‘‘SEC. 710. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 10 of law, the provisions of this title as applied to marihuana, 11 other than the provisions described in subsection (c) and 12 other than as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply 13 to any person acting in compliance with State law relating 14 to the manufacture, production, possession, distribution, 15 dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana. 16 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 17 provisions of this title related to marihuana, other than 18 the provisions described in subsection (c) and other than 19 as provided in subsection (d), shall not apply to any person 20 acting in compliance with the law of a federally recognized 21 Indian tribe within its jurisdiction in Indian country, as 22 defined in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code, 23 related to the manufacture, production, possession, dis- 24 tribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of mar- 25 ihuana so long as such jurisdiction is located within a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2093 IH state that permits, respectively, manufacture, production, 1 possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or 2 delivery of marihuana. 3 ‘‘(c) The provisions described in this subsection are— 4 ‘‘(1) section 401(a)(1), with respect to a viola- 5 tion of section 409 or 418; 6 ‘‘(2) section 409; 7 ‘‘(3) section 417; and 8 ‘‘(4) section 418. 9 ‘‘(d) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any person 10 who— 11 ‘‘(1) violates the Controlled Substances Act 12 with respect to any other controlled substance; 13 ‘‘(2) notwithstanding compliance with State or 14 tribal law, knowingly or intentionally manufactures, 15 produces, possesses, distributes, dispenses, admin- 16 isters, or delivers any other marihuana in violation 17 of the laws of the State or tribe in which such man- 18 ufacture, production, possession, distribution, dis- 19 pensation, administration, or delivery occurs; or 20 ‘‘(3) employs or hires any person under 18 21 years of age to manufacture, produce, distribute, 22 dispense, administer, or deliver marihuana.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2093 IH SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY OFFENSES. 1 Section 409 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 2 U.S.C. 849) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 4 paragraph (1)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per- 7 son’’; and 8 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 10 (2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 11 paragraph (1)— 12 (A) by striking ‘‘A person’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (d), a per- 14 son’’; and 15 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in- 16 serting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (b) and (c) shall not 19 apply to any person who possesses, or possesses with in- 20 tent to distribute marihuana in compliance with section 21 710.’’. 22 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION TO PERSONS UNDER AGE 21. 23 Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 24 U.S.C. 859) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2093 IH (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 1 inserting ‘‘and subsection (c) of this section’’ after 2 ‘‘section 419’’; 3 (2) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 4 inserting ‘‘and subsection(c) of this section’’ after 5 ‘‘section 419’’; and 6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any 8 person at least 18 years of age who distributes medicinal 9 marihuana to a person under 21 years of age in compli- 10 ance with section 710.’’. 11 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON EFFECTS OF 12 MARIHUANA LEGALIZATION ON TRAFFIC 13 SAFETY. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 15 United States shall conduct a study on the effects of mari- 16 huana legalization on traffic safety. 17 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The study conducted under sub- 18 section (a) shall include a detailed assessment of— 19 (1) traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries in 20 States that have legalized marihuana use, including 21 whether States are able to accurately evaluate mari- 22 huana impairment in those incidents; 23 (2) actions taken by the States referred to in 24 paragraph (1) to address marihuana-impaired driv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2093 IH ing, including any challenges faced in addressing 1 marihuana-impaired driving; 2 (3) testing standards used by the States re- 3 ferred to in paragraph (1) to evaluate marihuana 4 impairment in traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries, 5 including any scientific methods used to determine 6 impairment and analyze data; and 7 (4) Federal initiatives aiming to assist States 8 that have legalized marihuana with traffic safety, in- 9 cluding recommendations for policies and programs 10 to be carried out by the National Highway Traffic 11 Safety Administration. 12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 13 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 14 United States shall submit to the appropriate committees 15 of Congress a report on the results of the study conducted 16 under subsection (a). 17 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Conduct in compliance with this 19 Act and the amendments made by this Act— 20 (1) shall not be unlawful; 21 (2) shall not constitute trafficking in a con- 22 trolled substance under section 401 of the Controlled 23 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841) or any other provi- 24 sion of law; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2093 IH (3) shall not constitute the basis for forfeiture 1 of property under section 511 of the Controlled Sub- 2 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 881) or section 981 of title 3 18, United States Code. 4 (b) PROCEEDS.—The proceeds from any transaction 5 in compliance with this Act and the amendments made 6 by this Act shall not be deemed to be the proceeds of an 7 unlawful transaction under section 1956 or 1957 of title 8 18, United States Code, or any other provision of law. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2093.IH H2093 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS