STATES Act

The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act is proposed federal legislation that would amend the CSA so that its provisions do not apply to persons acting in compliance with state or tribal cannabis laws. It would not deschedule cannabis or establish a federal regulatory framework, but would effectively immunize state-compliant activity from federal criminal enforcement and authorize interstate commerce between legal jurisdictions. The original STATES Act was introduced in 2018 by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (S. 3032) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and David Joyce (R-OH) (H.R. 6043). The current vehicle is the STATES 2.0 Act, H.R. 2934, introduced April 17, 2025 by Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Max Miller (R-OH), and Dina Titus (D-NV); the bill is identical to 118th Congress H.R. 6673. STATES 2.0 would additionally exempt state-legal cannabis revenue from the IRC § 280E deduction disallowance and require a GAO study on traffic safety. As of April 2026, no markup has occurred, and there is no Senate companion; the bill has 8 cosponsors. The STATES approach is frequently cited as the most bipartisan — and therefore potentially most viable — federal reform model, but it has never advanced to a floor vote. *→ See also: MORE Act, CAOA, → see also [Part 7]: 280E