WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday introduced legislation that would legalize marijuana at federal level. It also eliminates the legal risks facing cannabis-related businesses and regulates its consumption like alcohol.

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, who spearheads the legislative effort described the bill with a “compromise” that has less stringent regulations than earlier measures, which were proposed by Democrats.

The legislation’s path in the Democratic-controlled House was uncertain. Mace, who is a first-term lawmaker said that the bill has five Republican cosponsors.

Adult use of cannabis is legal https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx in 18 U.S. states and allowed medically in 36 states. However, it is still illegal according to federal law. Banks and other investors have been discouraged from buying marijuana-related products.

The bill supports small business, especially small ones. Mace said that it was crucial. “If this bill were passed today… business would be legalized and regulated in the same way as alcohol.

Titled “The States Reform Act”, the Republican legislation will defer to the state authority on issues of regulation and prohibition.

It would restrict marijuana consumption by people under 21, ban advertising, preserve access to employment and benefit for veterans who use cannabis, and extinguish the records of those convicted of nonviolent cannabis-only offenses.

The bill diverges in several important ways from draft legislation https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-democrats-release-discussion-draft-federally-legalize-cannabis-2021-07-14 proposed in July by Senate Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Mace’s bill would impose an excise tax of 3% on cannabis, while a rising Senate tax proposal would reach around 25%.

The Senate’s proposal would have given the Food and Drug Administration primary oversight. However, Republican legislation restricts FDA involvement in medical marijuana and places the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as the principal regulator of interstate commerce.