Jul 24, 2026

Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Deschedule Marijuana, End Federal Prohibition of Cannabis. 

Legislation comes after the administration announced plans to reclassify marijuana to Schedule III

Specifically, CAOA establishes a federal regulatory framework to protect public health and safety, prioritizes restorative and economic justice to help undo the decades of harm caused by the failed war on drugs, ends discrimination in the provision of federal benefits on the basis of cannabis use, provides major investments for cannabis research, and strengthens worker protections. By decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level, CAOA also ensures that state-legal cannabis businesses or those in adjacent industries will no longer be denied access to bank accounts or financial services simply because of their ties to cannabis.
Hickenlooper has consistently advocated for the federal government to change the classification of marijuana. Hickenlooper previously urged the DEA to completely deschedule marijuana and introduced the PREPARE Act to prepare the federal government for federal legalization of cannabis, modeled after Colorado’s regulatory commission convened under then-Governor Hickenlooper.
In December, Hickenlooper welcomed the president’s decision to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III and pushed the administration to support his PREPARE Act.