New Federal Bill Would Legalize Marijuana and Rewrite U.S. Drug Laws Beyond Schedule III

By Nicolás Rodríguez, Managing Editor

A new bill introduced in Congress would remove marijuana from federal drug schedules entirely, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug offenses, and fundamentally restructure the system the United States has used to regulate controlled substances for more than half a century.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) introduced the Public Health and Research Reforms in Controlled Substances Act on Thursday, October 29, proposing sweeping changes to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

Unlike the federal marijuana rescheduling process, which focuses on moving cannabis to Schedule III, Cohen’s legislation would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act altogether. The proposal also reaches well beyond cannabis, seeking to change how federal agencies evaluate drugs, regulate scientific research and enforce drug laws.

The legislation arrives amid continuing debate over federal cannabis policy and the limits of rescheduling as a solution for an industry operating under a patchwork of state and federal laws.

Beyond Schedule III

The distinction between rescheduling and removing marijuana from federal drug schedules is central to Cohen’s proposal.

Rescheduling would leave marijuana subject to federal controlled-substance regulations, even if its classification changed. Removing it from the Controlled Substances Act would eliminate that particular basis for federal prohibition, although other federal and state laws could continue to govern its production, distribution, and sale.

Removing marijuana from the schedules could also address the federal tax treatment of cannabis businesses under Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, which restricts ordinary business deductions for trading substances in Schedule I or II. However, the bill’s full commercial implications would depend on its final language, implementation, and the regulatory framework that follows.

The proposal should not be confused with the immediate creation of a nationwide commercial cannabis market. Federal legalization would not automatically eliminate state licensing requirements or establish unrestricted interstate sales.

A New System for Classifying Drugs

Cohen’s bill would overhaul federal drug scheduling by separately assessing misuse risks and therapeutic benefits, expanding HHS oversight while retaining DEA enforcement authority. It would also require reviews of roughly 30 substances, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and psilocybin, without automatically legalizing them.

Sentencing Reform and Scientific Research

The bill would eliminate federal mandatory minimum drug sentences, allow reviews of past convictions, and ease research restrictions by shifting certain oversight responsibilities from the DEA to HHS. Judges would retain authority to impose prison sentences for serious offenses.

Cohen Calls for a Fundamental Review

Cohen described the legislation as an attempt to reconsider the assumptions underlying federal drug policy.

“A thoughtful review of national drug policy is long overdue,” Cohen said in announcing the bill.

He argued that decades of enforcement-oriented policies have produced severe criminal penalties without adequately aligning drug regulation with public health and scientific evidence.

The proposal has received endorsements from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Drug Policy Alliance, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

NORML Political Director Morgan Fox said the existing system has failed to classify psychoactive substances according to their actual uses and effects, citing marijuana’s longstanding placement among the most restricted substances.

What Happens Next?

The bill faces an uncertain path through Congress, where narrower cannabis reforms remain unresolved. For operators and investors, its immediate significance is political rather than regulatory, bringing full federal legalization back into the debate beyond Schedule III.

The future of federal cannabis policy will also be part of the conversation at IgniteIt’s Cannabis Capital & Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on November 18, where industry executives, investors, and policymakers will examine how regulatory decisions are shaping the next phase of the U.S. cannabis market.