# What This Bill Actually Does

This bill is Congress expressing its opinion that the United States should push to remove cannabis from an international drug treaty. Right now, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under a 1961 United Nations treaty called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs—the same category as heroin and other hard drugs. This bill says the U.S. representative at the UN should work to change that classification and get cannabis reclassified or removed from the treaty entirely.

The bill also calls for the U.S. government to support forgiving and expunging penalties for people who were previously convicted or punished for cannabis-related offenses. Additionally, it suggests treating cannabis like any other agricultural commodity—similar to how we treat corn or wheat—rather than as a dangerous controlled substance under international law.

It's important to understand what this bill actually does and doesn't do. This is not a law that changes anything immediately. It's a concurrent resolution, which means it's basically Congress saying "we think the executive branch should do this." It doesn't change U.S. drug laws, and it doesn't automatically expunge anyone's criminal record. What it does is send a message to the President and the State Department that Congress wants them to advocate for cannabis policy changes on the international stage. Whether the administration actually follows this recommendation is up to them. The real impact would only happen if the U.S. successfully convinces other countries at the UN to agree to reclassify cannabis, which would be a lengthy international negotiation process.

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States representative to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs should use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to seek to de-schedule cannabis from Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and take other related actions.

Rep. Mace, Nancy [R-SC-1]

 <p>This concurrent resolution expresses that it is the sense of Congress that the President should direct the U.S. representative to the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the commission to seek to de-schedule cannabis from Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, expunge and forgive penalties related to cannabis for prior offenders, and treat cannabis as a commodity similar to other agricultural commodities.</p>