Biden administration plans to reschedule marijuana, easing restrictions nationwide
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will take a historic step toward easing federal restrictions on cannabis, with plans to soon announce an interim rule rescheduling the drug for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted more than 50 years ago, four sources with Knowledge of the decision was reported to NBC News.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to approve a ruling from the Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana should be reclassified from the more stringent Schedule I to the less stringent Schedule III, marking the first time the U.S. government has recognized its potential benefits. doctors and start studying them seriously.
Attorney General Merrick Garland will present the rescheduling proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget as early as Tuesday afternoon, a source familiar with the timeline told NBC News.
The Justice Department “continues to work on this rule,” a Biden administration official said. “We have no further comment at this time.”
What does reprogramming mean?
Since 1971, marijuana has been in the same category as heroin, methamphetamine and LSD. Each substance under the Schedule I classification is defined as a drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule III substances include Tylenol with codeine, steroids, and testosterone.
By repurposing cannabis, the drug would now be studied and researched to identify concrete medical benefits, opening the door for pharmaceutical companies to become involved in the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.
For the $34 billion cannabis industry, the measure would also eliminate significant tax burdens for companies in states where the drug is legal, notably by eliminating the IRS code, Section 280E, which currently prohibits legal companies from cannabis companies from deducting what would otherwise be business as usual. expenses.
The Justice Department’s rescheduling decision could also help curb the black market, which has thrived despite legalization in states like New York and California and has undermined legal markets that are heavily regulated and highly taxed.
Years in the making
President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services in October 2022 to review the classification of marijuana. Federal scientists have concluded that there is credible evidence that cannabis provides medical benefits and that it poses lower health risks than other controlled substances.
Biden even made history in his State of the Union address this spring, referencing marijuana for the first time on the House dais and taking note of the federal review process. “No one should be arrested for using or possessing marijuana,” the president said during his speech.
When Biden served as vice president in former President Barack Obama’s administration, the White House opposed any legalization of marijuana because it “would pose significant risks to the health and safety of all Americans.”
Jim Cole, who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, authored the now-infamous Cole Memo in 2013, which paved the way for the modern marijuana market. The memo reduced federal intervention in states that have legalized marijuana, as long as they implement “strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to control the cultivation, distribution, sale, and possession of marijuana.”
Cole, who is now a member of the National Cannabis Roundtable, told NBC News in an interview this week that reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III “would open up the ability to actually test it and put it in a lab without all the measures restrictive.” of a Class I drug.
Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former Obama administration adviser, said the decision to reschedule marijuana is “the result of a politicized process,” arguing that “it will be devastating for America’s children, who will be bombarded with eye-catching advertising and promotion of child-friendly marijuana products.”
“The only winner here is the marijuana industry, which will receive a new tax incentive and thus expand its profit margins,” said Sabet. “Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug sends the message that marijuana is less addictive and dangerous now than ever before. In reality, today’s highly potent, super-strength marijuana is more addictive and is associated with psychosis and other mental illnesses, loss of IQ, and other problems.”
Researchers have raised concerns about high-potency marijuana and cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders, especially in young men.
Some challenges ahead
Once the DEA formally makes its announcement, the marijuana industry will see immediate benefits. But with the DEA’s proposed rule change comes a period of public review that could lead to a challenge, and perhaps even a change, in the rescheduling proposal.
Once the public comment period ends and the Office of Management and Budget reviews the decision, Congress can also overturn the rule under the Congressional Review Act, which gives the legislature the power to weigh in on rules issued by agencies. federal. Democrats control the Senate with a 51-seat majority and for a CRA to be successful, two-thirds of both the House and Senate would be needed to support it, meaning the marijuana rescheduling would likely survive.
While cannabis continues to be a hot topic on Capitol Hill, there has been growing support on a bipartisan basis for marijuana reforms, largely driven by the electorate. Nearly six in 10 Americans say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, according to a Pew Research survey last month. Cannabis is legal in 24 states for recreational use.
Congress is considering its own bills
Congress is considering its own measures that would facilitate the growth of legal marijuana businesses and allow more small, minority-owned shops to flood the market.
The SAFER Banking Act, for example, would grant legal marijuana businesses access to traditional banking and financial services and could pass both chambers by the end of the year.
Lawmakers are also considering the HOPE Act, another bipartisan bill that would provide resources to state and local governments to automatically expunge criminal records for minor, non-violent cannabis-related offenses.
There is also a uniquely democratic effort to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, empowering states to create their own cannabis laws and prioritize restorative and economic justice for those who have been affected by the War on Drugs.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the administration for its decision, saying it amounts to “finally recognizing that restrictive and draconian cannabis laws need to change to keep up with what science and the majority of Americans said it loud and clear.”
At the same time, he said he is “strongly committed” to moving forward with both the SAFER Banking Act and the Democratic bill to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely. “Congress must do everything it can to end federal cannabis prohibition and address the long-standing harms caused by the War on Drugs,” he said.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also praised the administration’s move but cautioned that “we still have a long way to go.”
Booker called on Congress to “follow the lead of states across the country and legalize cannabis for adult use and create a comprehensive tax and regulatory scheme.”
“Thousands of people remain in prisons across the country for marijuana-related crimes. Thousands of people continue to endure the devastating collateral consequences that accompany criminal records,” Booker said. “Legal marijuana businesses, especially those in communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs, still must navigate a complicated patchwork of state laws and regulatory schemes. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, especially those who represent constituents who benefit from medical or adult-use programs, will join me in passing federal legislation to address these problems.”
But there is weariness among lawmakers who remember the last time Congress passed a drug law.
The Republican-led Senate legalized hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill, a decision that led to the sale of synthetic and exotic cannabinoids over the counter, often without regulation, especially in states where marijuana is not legal.
It’s a gray area that has drawn resistance from both sides of the aisle, most recently with the rise of Delta-8: a synthetic THC product that uses chemicals — some of them harmful — to convert hemp-derived CBD into Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol. .
