S. 5022 — Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act

This section removes marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols in cannabis from the schedules of controlled substances. It directs the Attorney General to finalize a rulemaking within 180 days of enactment to remove them, effective as of the date of enactment for any offense, case, conviction, or juvenile adjudication, and requires initiation of a review within one year of non-cannabis-derived tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabimimetic agents for possible rescheduling.

This section transfers functions of the Drug Enforcement Administration relating to cannabis enforcement to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury. It redesignates the Tax and Trade Bureau as the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Tax and Trade Bureau. It requires the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into a memorandum of understanding within 180 days on coordinating cannabis regulation, including consideration of compliance burdens and reduction of administrative duplication.

This section extends the Webb-Kenyon Act to cannabis by making imported cannabis subject to state police power laws upon arrival in a state or territory, prohibiting interstate shipments intended to violate state law, and barring states or Indian tribes from prohibiting through-transport of cannabis or cannabis products. It authorizes state attorneys general to seek injunctive relief against violations involving cannabis under the same terms that apply to intoxicating liquor.

This section prohibits the knowing diversion of 10 pounds or more of cannabis without state authorization or tax stamps, punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment and a $50,000 fine, or up to 5 years and $100,000 for 20 pounds or more, with exceptions for licensed carriers, tax-compliant persons, officials, and certain drug manufacturers. It directs the Treasury Secretary to issue cannabis tracking and tracing regulations within 1 year of enactment after consulting Indian Tribes.

This section directs the Comptroller General to evaluate the societal impacts of state legalization of adult-use cannabis, addressing law enforcement activities such as arrests and seizures, employment and federal welfare receipt, health care utilization including for medical cannabis and other substances, and state tax revenues from legal sales. The Comptroller General must brief the Senate Committees on Finance, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Judiciary and the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and the Judiciary within 2 years of enactment, followed by a final report to those committees.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the National Institutes of Health Director, to conduct or support research on the impacts of cannabis, including effects on the brain, efficacy for treating chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and risks such as pulmonary, cardiovascular, cancer, and cognitive effects. It appropriates $200 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and requires annual reports to the Senate HELP and Appropriations Committees and the House Energy and Commerce and Appropriations Committees for five years beginning 18 months after enactment.

This section expands evidence-based prevention grants to require prescription drug monitoring programs to notify users of adverse health effects of cannabis use and to analyze data on cannabis and polysubstance use. It authorizes additional data collection on the use and health effects of cannabis, stimulants, and polysubstances. It increases annual funding to $596 million (from $496 million) for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and appropriates an extra $100 million annually for those years.

This section establishes a grant, contract, and cooperative agreement program under which the Secretary awards funds to States, Tribes, urban Indian organizations, and other eligible entities to prevent and reduce underage cannabis use. It appropriates $15 million for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, requires funds to supplement rather than supplant existing resources, and directs priority consideration for medically underserved communities and those with high rates of underage cannabis use or historically disproportionate cannabis-related arrests and convictions.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to fund and oversee national media campaigns that educate the public on the risks of underage cannabis use, cannabis-impaired driving, cannabis use disorder, and the effects of cannabis on the body and when mixed with other substances. It requires annual reports to Congress on campaign effectiveness and appropriates $5 million for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the National Institutes of Health and in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration and the Attorney General, to increase the availability and diversity of research-grade cannabis products for intramural and extramural research, including products with varied cannabinoid concentrations and those reflecting regional consumer market differences. It authorizes related guidance for extramural researchers and requires a briefing to the Senate and House committees on health and judiciary within one year of enactment. It appropriates $275 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

This section establishes the Trans-NIH Cannabis Research Consortium within the National Institutes of Health to coordinate cannabis research across institutes and centers. The Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse chairs the consortium, which sets research priorities, identifies cross-institute collaboration opportunities, supports development of early-career cannabis researchers, and consults external experts. The consortium must submit a report on funded multi-institute projects, strategic initiatives, career awards (including demographic data), and related activities to the Senate HELP Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee, and post it publicly on the NIH website, no later than one year after enactment of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and every two years thereafter.

This section establishes the Cannabis Research Interagency Advisory Committee within the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate federal research activities relating to cannabis. The committee consists of the heads of the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and seven other specified agencies. It must monitor research, identify barriers, develop a strategic plan with budgetary requirements, and submit annual updates to Congress and the President.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to public and nonprofit entities for research on the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis, including effects on at-risk populations, understudied products, clinical endpoints such as pediatric epilepsy and PTSD, and diagnostic technologies for impairment. It prioritizes minority-serving institutions, requires equitable geographic distribution of awards, mandates annual entity reports and public reports to Congress every five years, and appropriates $200 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct clinical trials on the effects of medical-grade cannabis on veterans with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. It mandates evaluation of at least 15 specific outcomes for each condition, study of at least seven cannabis cultivars across seven tetrahydrocannabinol-to-cannabidiol ratio categories, control and experimental groups matching veteran demographics, exclusion of veterans with substance use disorders or contraindications, data preservation for future research, an implementation plan submitted to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees within 180 days, annual reports for five years, and a long-term observational study option, while ensuring trial participation does not affect eligibility for other VA benefits.

This section establishes the cannabis research infrastructure grant program. It authorizes the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education for developing or enhancing infrastructure for exploratory cannabis research, including cultivation, equipment, facilities, storage, policies, fees, and staff. It prioritizes institutions described in section 371(a), under-resourced institutions including community colleges, and those with prior cannabis research experience, and provides $200 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

This section establishes definitions for the subtitle, specifying that Administrator means the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation, and THC means tetrahydrocannabinol.

This section requires the Secretary to collect and share data on cannabis-impaired driving crashes involving drivers with THC or a combination of THC and another substance. It directs the Administrator to initiate a National Roadside Survey within 1 year after enactment and requires the Secretary to complete a study within 3 years that evaluates crash likelihood after recent cannabis use, effects on driving behavior, correlation between THC levels in oral fluids and impairment, accuracy of the Standard Field Sobriety Test for cannabis, impacts of use frequency, and risks of combining cannabis with other substances, with annual reports to the specified Senate and House committees.

This section requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop and issue best practices within one year for States and communities to prevent cannabis-impaired driving, including mixed-substance use and drivers under age 21, and to update them biannually. It also directs the Secretary to establish and carry out national prevention campaigns within two years, evaluate their effectiveness every three years using behavioral data and stakeholder input, and report findings and recommendations to the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Environment and Public Works, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

This section establishes a grant program, administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to fund state efforts to prevent cannabis-impaired driving. States may use funds for enforcement training and toxicology lab capacity, data collection on drug use in crashes, and public education campaigns; grants are allocated proportionally to section 402 apportionments, with at least 10 percent required for lab improvements. The federal share begins at 80 percent and declines to 50 percent after six years unless the state enacts a cannabis open-container law.

This section directs the Secretary to determine, not later than 3 years after enactment and every 2 years thereafter, whether a national standard for cannabis-impaired driving is feasible. If the Secretary finds it feasible, the Secretary must issue regulations establishing a model marijuana impairment standard for states within 1 year of that determination.

This section appropriates $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out sections 222 and 223.

This section establishes a Cannabis Justice Office within the Office of Justice Programs, headed by a Director appointed by and reporting to the Assistant Attorney General. The Director must hire at least one-third of the office’s employees within 180 days, including a Tribal Relations Coordinator and legal counsel, and administers the Community Reinvestment Grant Program, which awards grants to nonprofits, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian-serving entities for job training, reentry services, legal aid including expungement of cannabis convictions, literacy programs, youth mentoring, and health education serving individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.

This section renames the opioid abuse grant program as the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Disorder Program and expands its authorized activities from addressing opioid abuse to addressing substance use disorders, including stimulants. It appropriates $200 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

This section expands access to Small Business Administration programs for cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers by prohibiting denial of services, loans, or grants solely on that basis. It defines cannabis and cannabis products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and applies the prohibition to small business development centers, women’s business centers, the SCORE program, veteran business outreach centers, the Community Navigators Pilot Program, 7(a) loans, disaster loans, and microloans.

This section directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly compile, maintain, and publish demographic data on owners and employees in the cannabis industry. The data must cover age, certifications and licenses, disability status, educational attainment, family and marital status, nativity, race and Hispanic ethnicity, school enrollment, veteran status, and sex. The Bureau must keep names, addresses, and other identifying information confidential.

This section establishes a 10-year small business intermediary lending pilot program under which the Administrator may make direct loans to eligible intermediaries—including nonprofit community development corporations, community development financial institutions, and minority depository institutions—for relending to startup small businesses, socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, and small businesses owned by individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. The program caps loans at $10 million per intermediary (with 20-year terms, no fees or collateral, and a 2-year repayment delay), limits loans to small businesses at $200,000 each, authorizes up to $300 million annually to no more than 30 intermediaries, provides accompanying grants for technical assistance, and appropriates $90 million for loans and $41 million for grants in FY2026 (available through September 30, 2030).

This section directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to review the agency's regulations, policies, and guidance to eliminate disparities for cannabis-related legitimate businesses and cannabis-related service providers. The review must reduce regulatory burdens and increase loan eligibility for minority businesses and individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, and may consider effective state-level systems.

This section directs each judicial district to expunge all federal cannabis offense convictions and associated arrests entered between May 1, 1971, and the day before enactment, within one year of enactment, and to notify affected individuals. It permits individuals not serving a criminal sentence to petition for expungement, seals all related records, and issues certificates of expungement. Individuals with expunged records may treat the offense as if it never occurred and are shielded from perjury penalties and loss of federal benefits. It bars expungement for those who received an aggravating role adjustment under the Sentencing Guidelines unless mitigating factors exist. It also requires the Comptroller General to conduct a demographic study of convicted individuals and report results to Congress within two years.

This section prohibits denial of any federal public benefit on the basis of cannabis use or possession, or a cannabis-related conviction or juvenile delinquency adjudication. It also bars federal agencies from granting, denying, or rescinding a security clearance based solely on past or present cannabis use.

This section provides that cannabis may not be considered a controlled substance under the immigration laws and prohibits denial of any immigration benefit or protection based on cannabis-related conduct, addiction, arrest, adjudication, or conviction, regardless of when the event occurred. It eliminates prior exceptions for a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana from grounds of inadmissibility, deportability, and related provisions, and authorizes motions to reconsider removal orders based in whole or part on cannabis offenses.

This section directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update all applicable Department regulations, guidance, memoranda, and policies within 180 days to authorize VA physicians and other health care providers to recommend veteran participation in state or federal cannabis programs and to complete related forms.

This section directs the Director of the Indian Health Service to update all regulations, guidance, memoranda, and policies within 180 days to authorize health care providers to recommend patient participation in State or Tribal cannabis programs authorized under Federal or State law and to complete related forms.

This section establishes a Center for Cannabis Products within the Food and Drug Administration, to be created no later than 90 days after enactment of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. It deems a cannabis product adulterated if it contains filthy or deleterious substances, is produced under insanitary conditions, or fails to meet manufacturing controls under section 1105(c). It deems a cannabis product misbranded unless its label includes a cannabis warning, manufacturer details, quantity, tetrahydrocannabinol content per serving, and directions for use and against use by children. It requires annual registration by December 31 of every person owning or operating an establishment that manufactures, prepares, or processes cannabis products.

This section subjects cannabis products to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act's regulatory framework for tobacco products. It defines cannabis as all parts of the Cannabis sativa L. plant (excluding hemp) and cannabis products as items made or derived from cannabis for human or animal consumption. It prohibits sales to persons under 21 years of age, retail transactions exceeding 10 ounces, and products containing alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine. It also extends seizure, inspection, import, export, and enforcement authorities to cannabis products.

This section establishes a program to expedite the development and review of applications for drugs containing cannabis manufactured by small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals or Native entities operating in the cannabis industry. It requires sponsors to implement controls against theft and diversion of such drugs and directs the Secretary to issue implementing guidance within one year after enactment of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.

This section permits dietary supplements to contain cannabidiol derived from hemp. It bars such supplements from interstate commerce unless they contain no more than a Secretary-set threshold amount per recommended daily serving, submit a new dietary ingredient notification, and meet any labeling or packaging requirements the Secretary establishes by interim final rule. It prohibits introducing into commerce any product labeled as a dietary supplement that fails to meet the dietary supplement definition, updates import exclusion and seizure authorities to cover violations, and directs the Secretary to issue draft guidance on cannabidiol safety as a food additive within one year of enactment, with final guidance due 180 days after the comment period closes following advisory committee consultation.

This section provides an 18-month transition period for cannabis products marketed in the United States under state law within 30 days of enactment before they are subject to new federal requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It establishes a 3-year transition period for drugs containing cannabis marketed under state medical use laws, during which manufacturers must submit new drug applications within 18 months to continue marketing, after which enforcement may begin.

This section provides $425,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out this title and the amendments made by this title.

This section establishes a federal permit system for importing, cultivating, manufacturing, packaging, warehousing, or wholesaling cannabis, making such activities unlawful without a permit from the Secretary. It requires permits unless the applicant has a disqualifying cannabis-related felony conviction within the prior three years, proposes operations violating state law, or is unlikely to comply with federal law, with waiver provisions for mitigation or rehabilitation and a 90-day transition period for applicants.

This section provides $100 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Tax and Trade Bureau, in addition to other available funds, to implement cannabis tax rules under new chapter 56 of the Internal Revenue Code, new title III of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, and related enforcement authorities under sections 102 and 112 of this Act and 6 U.S.C. 531.