John Fetterman

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman joined more than a dozen Democrats in reintroducing a bill that would legalize marijuana and pave the way for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses to be expunged from criminal records.

“I’ve always been very pro-weed,” Fetterman said Tuesday in a news release.

Claiming he has a “very libertarian slant” on the issue, the Democrat from Braddock added, “I’m not going to judge anyone for using (marijuana) to knock the edge off of life. I think your path to wellness should be without judgment or punishment — legal, safe and regulated.”

Reintroduced last Thursday by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the bill had 14 Democratic cosponsors as of Tuesday. Republicans hold the majority in the Senate.

The bill, titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, was previously introduced in 2021 and 2024.

Two dozen states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for recreational use, while medical marijuana is legal in 41 states, including Pennsylvania.

Efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Pennsylvania have stalled in Harrisburg.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December to expedite the process of reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

In April, the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Agency reclassified Food and Drug Administration-approved products containing marijuana and marijuana products regulated by a state medical marijuana license as Schedule III drugs, placing them in the same category as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone. All other marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, along with substances like heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote that the DEA deems to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical uses.

The reintroduced bill includes provisions that would: