New Delhi, July 22 -- WASHINGTON - A $44 billion American industry that employs 425,000 people, operates legally in 24 states, and is projected to exceed $47 billion this year cannot open a standard business bank account, deduct ordinary operating expenses from federal taxes, or guarantee its workers the protections available in virtually every other sector of the American economy. Senate Democrats moved to close that gap on Wednesday.

Seventeen senators, led by Cory Booker of New Jersey, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Ron Wyden of Oregon, reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act - a bill that would fully remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act, replacing prohibition with a framewor...