Congressman Cohen Introduces Comprehensive Reform of Controlled Substances Act

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and a co-chairman of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, has introduced the Public Health and Research Reforms in Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The comprehensive measure revises major portions of the 1970 CSA, updating the federal drug-regulation framework to align with public health, equal justice, and scientific accuracy goals.

Its six titles address nearly all aspects of federal drug control, from declaring its purpose and aligning scheduling parameters with modern science and public health priorities, to adjusting the assessment of harm, eliminating weight-based drug mandatory minimum penalties, directing the Sentencing Commission to account for these changes and provide for retroactivity in sentencing, while maintaining sufficient enforcement tools for law enforcement to go after major narcotic traffickers. The new Schedules would provide for review of all controlled substances to evaluate their new schedule, with about 30 substances, including fentanyl, morphine, methamphetamine, psilocybin, and ibogaine, set as the first compounds to be evaluated. None of these would be descheduled, but rather more precisely tailored to the schedule, balancing harms with their benefits.

The measure substantially expands upon the Congressman’s Controlled Substances Act Clarification in Science Act introduced in June . The Public Health and Research Reforms in Controlled Substances Act is the most comprehensive package of reforms to the CSA since the law was enacted in 1970. The bill makes changes to nearly every section of the CSA, and is Congressman Cohen’s 500^th sponsored piece of legislation since he entered Congress.

The bill presents a flexible framework to ensure enhanced transparency in scheduling action and goals, so that government agencies can more robustly track and coordinate strategies on emerging drug trends or chemicals, strengthen and streamline scientific research, and focus agency actions on their strengths – where the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can focus on science and medicine, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on preventing diversion and illicit use of controlled substances.

Notably, the bill does the following:

• New schedules that allow for greater granularity and eliminate internal inconsistencies.
• New statutory factor analysis for drug scheduling, adding an external advisory committee that scores and weighs each factor to improve transparency.
• Altered some delegations of authority from the Attorney General (delegated to DEA) to the Secretary of HHS;
  • In setting production quotas for drugs, transferred authorities to the HHS Secretary from the AG.
  • Researchers will now obtain their registration from HHS and the HHS Secretary will now schedule substances rather than the AG.
• Strengthened scientific research language in 2025’s HALT Fentanyl Act.
• Created blanket Controlled Substances research licenses. 
• Corrected the definition of the term “controlled substance analogue”.
• Enhanced White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) coordination efforts for emerging drug trends initially authorized in SUPPORT Act.
• Updated “emergency scheduling” of drugs or substances.
• Eliminated mandatory minimum drug penalties while preserving the ability for judges to issue sentences.  
• Remove marijuana from the CSA. 

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“Most Americans believe the ‘war on drugs’ has been a failure at cross purposes with good public policy and aimed largely at minorities with draconian mandatory minimum sentences for minor offenses that most now believe aren’t really offenses at all. This bill would set comprehensive policies on all aspects of drug regulation while also defining the purpose of federal involvement. A thoughtful review of national drug policy is long overdue. This measure would start the process of aligning the law with coherent public policy.”

The measure assigns sensible jurisdictional guidelines with the Department of Health and Human Services focusing on science and medicine and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) targeting diversion and illicit use of controlled substances.

To see the bill text, click here.

To see the section-by-section analysis, click here.

Congressman Cohen has also written a substantial document that explains the ideas behind the changes to the law. It was drafted to serve as a reference to future Congresses on the intent, rationale, and the ideas which went into shaping the bill. To see this document, click here.

The bill was endorsed by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the Drug Policy Alliance and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

Sia Henry, J.D., Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy, Multidisciplinary Association for the Advancement of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS):

“This proposed CSA rewrite offers an important opportunity to begin reimagining drug policy by grounding it in scientific evidence, public health, and a more honest assessment of both the risks and therapeutic benefits of controlled substances. For decades, the War on Drugs has devastated Black and brown communities, criminalizing people who use and sell drugs while fueling mass incarceration, family separation, intergenerational trauma, and profound racial and socioeconomic inequity. I’m especially encouraged by the bill’s removal of mandatory minimum sentences and its provision of retroactive application, which offers a first step toward addressing the harms experienced by people already caught in the War on Drugs; its clear instructions for the US Sentencing Commission to revise its guidelines for drug-related offenses; and its dual-track scheduling framework. Together, these changes challenge the assumption that we can criminalize and punish our way out of public health challenges and begin to move us toward a future that confronts the human costs of prohibition rather than perpetuating them” 

Kat Murti, Executive Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP):

“For decades, the War on Drugs has punished people for using substances while punishing scientists for trying to understand them. Mandatory minimum sentences have stolen decades from families, while outdated drug scheduling has blocked research that could save lives. Congressman Cohen understands these are two sides of the same failed policy, and this legislation takes on both.

“I’ll never forget Congressman Cohen standing in the rain outside the Capitol this past April 20, shoulder to shoulder with men who had been sentenced to life in prison for cannabis and had already lost decades of their lives behind bars. While much of the country celebrates the cannabis industry on 4/20, SSDP and our allies were there to remind Congress that legalization means little to those still imprisoned for it. Congressman Cohen didn’t just join us for the press conference. He also sponsored our congressional briefing that brought the voices of people directly harmed by prohibition into the halls of power, where their stories too often go unheard. That's the kind of leader Steve Cohen has always been: someone who doesn't just talk about justice, but shows up for the people who have been denied it.

“Research harm is one of the most overlooked consequences of the War on Drugs. For decades, the federal government has made it extraordinarily difficult for scientists to study certain substances, then used the lack of research to justify keeping them prohibited. It's a vicious cycle that has held back scientific discovery, delayed promising treatments, and prevented us from developing a better understanding of both the benefits and risks of these substances.

“Congressman Cohen’s legislation recognizes that drug scheduling should follow science, not stand in its way. By reevaluating outdated classifications, distinguishing a substance's potential risks from its therapeutic value, and reducing unnecessary barriers to research, this bill would help give scientists the freedom to ask important questions and pursue answers that could save lives.

“We cannot make sensible drug policy without good science, and we cannot have good science when our drug policies make that research unnecessarily difficult. Congressman Cohen understands that ending the War on Drugs means ending the harm it does to scientific progress, too.

“It’s fitting that his 500th and final bill takes aim at the very foundations of the War on Drugs. Congressman Cohen has spent his career fighting for drug policies grounded in science, compassion, and human rights. This legislation is a powerful reflection of that legacy, and a challenge to Congress to finish the work.”

Morgan Fox, Political Director, NORML:

“For more than half a century, America's failed drug policies have been built on the shaky and unscientific foundation of the scheduling system defined in the Controlled Substances Act. This system has never accurately categorized psychoactive substances based on rigorous analysis of their real-world uses and impacts, most clearly evidenced by the placement of cannabis in the most restrictive and dangerous class. The end result has been unfathomable human suffering around the globe. We commend Rep. Cohen for introducing this comprehensive and long overdue legislation to fix the problem at its source and take the first big step toward rational, evidence-based drug policy in the future.”

Eric E. Sterling​, former Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee (1979-1989):

“Rep. Steve Cohen has, once again, made a major legislative contribution in drafting the ‘Public Health and Research Reforms in Controlled Substances Act of 2026.’ I worked on drug legislation for my entire service with the Congress.  The need to modernize the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 has long been apparent. In more than a half century since its enactment this major federal law, which has sent more men and women to federal prison than any other federal law, has not been thoughtfully considered by Congress. This bill will reform many of the defective provisions that I helped enact in the haste and fear of the Reagan-era ‘war on drugs’. I hope the next Congress quickly takes up Rep. Cohen’s reforms. This bill would enable the just prosecution and punishment of drug offenders and clarify many ambiguities and inconsistencies that have been introduced into the law over the years.”

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