Cannabis Descheduling, Expungement & War on Drugs Reinvestment

Current understanding

Federal legislation in this area would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act schedules, decriminalize cannabis-related conduct at the federal level, provide for expungement of certain prior federal cannabis offenses, and direct reinvestment funds toward communities identified as disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs. S5022 (119th Congress) is one such introduced vehicle combining all three elements (descheduling, expungement, and reinvestment); similar prior proposals include the MORE Act and Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. Practical effects for affected groups turn on scope of eligible offenses for expungement, whether relief is automatic or petition-based, and how reinvestment funds are administered.

Evidence log

• 2026-07-16 — A bill to decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.: cross-connection with returning-citizens-employment-access: Federal cannabis expungement directly clears a category of records that otherwise trigger the employment and credentialing barriers reentry legislation targets. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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