H.Res. 926

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 926 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 926

Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal 
cannabis marketplace.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 4, 2025

Mr. Carter of Louisiana (for himself, Ms. Omar, Ms. Simon, Ms. Titus, 
Ms. Norton, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Mr. Pocan) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on the 
Judiciary, Education and Workforce, Foreign Affairs, and Transportation 
and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal 
cannabis marketplace.

Whereas persons and communities continue to be negatively impacted by cannabis 
policies and marijuana's status as a scheduled substance under the 
Controlled Substances Act;
Whereas the persons and communities that have been most harmed by marijuana 
prohibition are benefitting the least from the legal cannabis 
marketplace and other cannabis policy reforms;
Whereas a legacy of racial and ethnic injustices, compounded by the 
disproportionate collateral consequences of 80 years of marijuana 
prohibition and enforcement, now limits access to public benefits, such 
as nutritional assistance, housing, education, and economic 
opportunities, including participation in the cannabis industry;
Whereas 24 States as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands have legalized cannabis use for adults and 40 now allow some 
form of medical cannabis;
Whereas, after Colorado and Washington became the first two States to regulate 
the cannabis market in 2014, States have generated a combined total of 
nearly $25 billion in tax revenue from the legal adult use of marijuana 
products sales;
Whereas the United States cannabis market currently stands at around $65 billion 
in annual revenue, and by 2030, this number is expected to balloon to 
$100 billion if cannabis is federally legalized;
Whereas the failed war on drugs has cost the United States roughly $1 trillion, 
with economists estimating that criminal justice expenditures related to 
the marijuana prohibition costs States roughly $6 billion and the 
Federal Government $4 billion per year;
Whereas people of color have been historically victimized by discriminatory 
sentencing practices, resulting in Black men receiving drug sentences 
that are 13.4 times greater than sentences imposed for White men, and 
non-White persons accounted for 86.5 percent of cannabis convictions;
Whereas, according to the ACLU, Black people are 3.64 times more likely than 
White people to be arrested for cannabis possession, even though usage 
rates are comparable;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of people continue to be arrested every year for 
cannabis violations, primarily at the State level, and that the Federal 
placement of cannabis in the Controlled Substances Act is often cited as 
a reason for States not to legalize cannabis;
Whereas the decriminalization of cannabis possession has proved to reduce the 
disparity in arrest rates between Black and White men by almost 20 
percent, as well as reducing total arrest rates by over 70 percent among 
adults;
Whereas the criminalization of cannabis results in the detention and subsequent 
deportation of countless immigrants seeking to build better lives for 
themselves and their families in the United States;
Whereas, as a noncitizen merely working for a State-licensed marijuana business 
and otherwise fully compliant with all Federal and State laws can still 
be deported due to the placement of marijuana in the Controlled 
Substances Act;
Whereas cannabis policies continue to punish people for personal cannabis use 
and possession, as well as legal records and consequences associated 
with cannabis violations;
Whereas non-White ownership of cannabis businesses shrank in 2022 to 15.4 
percent from 20.7 percent in 2021;
Whereas cannabis businesses are limited by numerous laws, regulations, taxes, 
and prohibitive permit applications and licensing fees in these States, 
which can total more than $100,000, with annual renewal fees also 
exceeding $100,000;
Whereas historically disproportionate arrest and conviction rates make it 
particularly difficult for people of color to enter the legal cannabis 
marketplace, as most States bar these individuals from participating;
Whereas Federal law severely limits access to loans and capital for cannabis 
businesses, disproportionately impacting minority small business owners;
Whereas the World Health Organization reported that about 2.5 percent of the 
global population use cannabis, and disparate legal outcomes pertaining 
to the substance have been replicated in foreign states;
Whereas cannabis and cannabis resin, including extracts and tinctures of 
cannabis, are classified by the United Nations (UN) as a Schedule I drug 
under UN drug control treaties such as the Single Convention on Narcotic 
Drugs;
Whereas the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug is outdated and the 
United States should be leading the way on cannabis reform at the 
multilateral level;
Whereas foreign states such as Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, and Uruguay 
have legalized cannabis for recreational use, and multiple others 
including Mexico, Georgia, Ghana, and South Africa have taken steps to 
legalize cannabis;
Whereas additional foreign states would reevaluate how cannabis is classified in 
their countries if the United Nations did so; and
Whereas an increasing number of States and municipalities have taken proactive 
steps to acknowledge and address the harms of cannabis criminalization, 
advance equity in cannabis policy, and mitigate inequalities in the 
legal cannabis marketplace: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Realizing Equitable & Sustainable 
Participation in Emerging Cannabis Trades Resolution'' or the ``RESPECT 
Resolution''.

SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES AND STEPS TO ADVANCE EQUITY IN CANNABIS POLICY; 
ADDRESS DISPARITIES IN THE CANNABIS MARKETPLACE 
PARTICIPATION; ADDRESS, REVERSE, AND REPAIR CERTAIN 
EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON DRUGS.

(a) In General.--The House of Representatives encourages States and 
localities to adopt best practices and take bold steps referred to in 
subsection (b) to advance equity in cannabis policy and address 
disparities in the cannabis marketplace participation and to address, 
reverse, and repair the most egregious effects of the War on Drugs on 
communities of color, in particular to those who now hold criminal 
records for a substance that is now legal and regulated.
(b) Best Practices and Steps.--The practices and steps referred to 
in this subsection include--
(1) eliminating State and local criminal penalties for the 
possession and use of cannabis and ensuring that public 
benefits cannot be denied to persons due to a cannabis 
conviction;
(2) establishing licensing and application fees that are 
reasonable to cover only the costs of program implementation 
and necessary regulations;
(3) creating a system where licensing is to be obtained at 
the city or county level and should be based on regulations 
determined by the local jurisdiction that meet the State's 
minimum requirements, which allows the community to determine 
the type and number of businesses, avoids arbitrary caps on 
licenses, and results in an industry more representative of the 
local market;
(4) in States where license caps are completely 
unavoidable, establishing local oversight and control of 
cannabis licenses by allowing local cities and municipalities 
to prioritize licenses for local citizens and residents, 
especially individuals most impacted by the War on Drugs, by 
taking into account and prioritizing--
(A) long-term residency within the State or 
locality;
(B) individuals whose income is less than 80 
percent of the median household income within a county;
(C) individuals who have been formerly 
incarcerated;
(D) individuals with prior drug law violations;
(E) individuals living within a jurisdiction that 
is heavily policed; and
(F) policies and regulations that truly prevent 
large companies and wealthy investors from obtaining 
significant revenue generated by license holders who 
have been prioritized for ownership for the reasons 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) above and 
for equity-based prioritizations determined by the 
State;
(5) adopting laws and implementing regulations that will 
allow small cultivators to thrive in the legal market;
(6) creating more equitable licensing by--
(A) eliminating broad felony restrictions for 
licensing;
(B) focusing restrictions on entering the market to 
those, determined on a case-by-case basis for both 
licensees and employees, with criminal convictions that 
are relevant to the owning and operating of a business; 
and
(C) prohibiting previous cannabis convictions from 
consideration as justification for a denial of a 
license;
(7) creating an automatic process, at no cost for the 
individual, for the expungement or sealing of criminal records 
for cannabis offenses that is inclusive of individuals 
currently on parole or under any probationary agreement, for 
cannabis offenses, and provides notification and certification 
of the expungement or sealing;
(8) establishing a process for resentencing persons serving 
sentences for cannabis convictions and redesignating of 
penalties for persons previously convicted of cannabis-related 
crimes for which the penalties have been reduced or removed;
(9) eliminating suspicion-less drug testing for non safety-
sensitive employment positions;
(10) taking a proactive approach to consider and adopt laws 
and policies regarding interstate commerce and their potential 
impact on disparities in the cannabis marketplace;
(11) adopting policies that promote fair labor standards 
and practices within the cannabis industry;
(12) eliminating punishment or other penalization for 
persons currently under parole, probation, or other State 
supervision, or released on bail awaiting trial, for conduct 
otherwise allowed under State cannabis laws, and allowing the 
medical use of cannabis by incarcerated person if recommended 
by their physician;
(13) setting aside a percentage of the tax revenue from 
cannabis sales to be reinvested in communities that have been 
most affected by cannabis arrests and the drug war, which most 
frequently have been communities of color, including programs 
for job training, reentry services, expungement expenses, 
public libraries, community centers, programs and opportunities 
dedicated to youth, and health education programs;
(14) using a percentage of tax revenue to establish a 
special fund to provide small business investments to support 
people of color entering into the legal cannabis industry;
(15) establishing cannabis regulatory and oversight bodies 
and commissions that reflect the racial, ethnic, economic, and 
gender makeup of the surrounding community;
(16) creating employment and subcontracting requirements 
for cannabis licensees in order to use the ancillary business 
activity generated by the cannabis industry to employ people of 
color;
(17) including provisions designating spaces for public 
consumption, either by the licensing of social entities or by 
creating these spaces; and
(18) establishing a robust education campaign to inform the 
public on relevant legal and public health information 
including consumer education and developing public education 
campaigns to prevent youth access and cannabis-impaired 
driving.

SEC. 3. UN CANNABIS DESCHEDULING.

It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
should direct the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Vienna to use 
the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the Commission 
on Narcotic Drugs to seek to deschedule cannabis from the international 
drug control treaties, expunge and forgive penalties relating to 
cannabis for prior offenses, acknowledge and study the impacts of 
controlling cannabis through international treaties, and treat cannabis 
as a legal commodity.
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