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The Biden administration took steps Tuesday to reclassify marijuana as a low-risk substance, a person familiar with the plan told CNN. This is a historic move that recognizes the medical benefits of a long-criminalized drug and will have far-reaching implications for cannabis-related studies and research. Entire industry.
The U.S. Department of Justice has recommended that marijuana be rescheduled as a Schedule III controlled substance. This is a common classification with prescription drugs such as ketamine and Tylenol, which contain codeine.
“today, [Attorney General Merrick Garland] “We have circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III,” Justice Department Public Affairs Director Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. “Publication in the Federal Register begins the formal rulemaking process prescribed by Congress in the Controlled Substances Act.”
The formal rulemaking process is time-consuming, typically includes a public comment period, and can take several months to complete.
The rescheduling recommendation, first reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday, was welcomed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. I advertised this on X as follows “Big News for Business, Tax Credits and Research Barriers.”
Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer said in a statement that the rescheduling “brings us one step closer to ending our failed war on drugs.”
For more than 50 years, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I substance (drugs such as heroin, bath salts, and ecstasy that have no accepted medical use and are considered to have a high potential for abuse), subject to the most stringent restrictions. is subject to.
This anticipated recommendation follows a thorough review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the direction of President Joe Biden, who sent a letter to the Department of Justice supporting reclassification to Schedule III in 2022. It will be done.
last fall, Members of the FDA's controlled substances staff said in a letter that the agency is rescheduling marijuana because it meets three criteria: marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I and Schedule II drugs. It is written in the document that it was recommended. It is currently approved for medical use in treatment in the United States. And those who abuse it are at risk of low or moderate physical dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse agreed with this recommendation.
Although marijuana has “widespread non-medical uses” in the United States, it does not appear to cause serious consequences when compared to drugs such as heroin, oxycodone and cocaine, the researchers said. This is especially noteworthy given that products are available that contain very high levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active compound in cannabis.
Since the first adult-use cannabis sales in Colorado in 2014, cannabis has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, attracting the attention of multinational companies across sectors such as alcohol, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and tobacco. There is.
Cannabis, particularly the way the public and politicians view it, has undergone significant changes over the past decade.
Currently, 24 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, and 38 states allow medical use of cannabis products, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. State-licensed cannabis dispensaries and retail stores are expected to generate $32.1 billion in sales this year, according to estimates from MJBiz, a cannabis industry trade publication and event organizer.
Public sentiment is high, with a Gallup poll conducted in November showing that a record 70% of Americans supported legalizing marijuana. In 2014, its share was 51%.
U.S. lawmakers have also warmed to the plant, drafting a number of cannabis-related bills, including one that calls for removing marijuana entirely from the Controlled Substances Act while retaining a national market.
Taking marijuana off the schedule could open up more avenues for research. Relaxing some of the harsher punitive criminal penalties. Cannabis businesses could be able to bank more freely and openly. And, perhaps most significantly for state-licensed operators, businesses will no longer have to comply with a 40-year-old tax law that disallows deductions or deductions from income generated from the sale of Schedule I and II substances. is.
However, rescheduling marijuana will not resolve the conflict between the federal and state states, the Congressional Research Service noted in a Jan. 16 brief. The manufacture, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana remains illegal under federal law and may be subject to enforcement and prosecution regardless of state legality, CRS wrote.
“Aside from the tax implications, this is very symbolic,” Andrew Friedman, a former Colorado cannabis czar and current executive director of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation, said in an interview with CNN. “It's rare for the federal government to reverse its stance on an issue where it has maintained its position for the past 100 years and has resulted in the arrest of countless people.”
States with medical marijuana programs currently enjoy some federal protections through appropriations laws that limit the Justice Department's interference with those programs. Schedule III status does not affect that passenger, CRS said.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, better known as the Farm Bill, defined and deregulated hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol, removing it from the definition and regulation of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. The FDA's scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana did not feature products containing the plant-derived cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD.
