A stack of cookies and cream with Delta 9 is just drying and waiting to cure at Trade Roots, a cannabis dispensary in Wareham that grows cannabis plants in greenhouses to create CBD with THC and produces CBD Products are sold to buyers in its stores and distributors.
John Tulumaki | The Boston Globe | Getty Images
The Biden administration will take a historic step toward easing federal restrictions on marijuana, planning to soon announce an interim rule that would reclassify marijuana for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted more than 50 years ago, four people familiar with the matter Reveal told NBC News.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to approve an opinion from the Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana should be reclassified from the most stringent Schedule I to the less stringent Schedule III, marking the first time the U.S. government is acknowledging its potential medical benefits and getting serious about it. Study them.
“The Department of Justice will continue to develop this rule,” a Biden administration official said. “We have no further comment at this time.”
What does rescheduling mean?
Marijuana has been in the same category as heroin, methamphetamine and LSD since 1971. Each substance under Schedule I classification is defined as a drug that has no recognized medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule III substances include Tylenol and codeine, steroids and testosterone.
By rescheduling marijuana, the drug will now be studied to determine specific medical benefits, opening the door for pharmaceutical companies to participate in the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.
For the $34 billion cannabis industry, the move would also eliminate a significant tax burden on businesses in states where cannabis is legal, specifically by repealing Section 280E of the IRS Code, which currently prohibits legal cannabis companies from deducting ordinary business taxes. spend.
The Justice Department’s rescheduling decision could also help shrink the black market, which has thrived despite legalization in states like New York and California and undercut the heavily regulated and highly taxed legal market.
Members of the Marijuana Justice Community in Washington, D.C., held a 51-minute gathering on the National Mall ahead of President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress calling for government action on criminal record decriminalization and expungement on Wednesday, April 28. joint explosive activities.
Tom Williams | Chongqing Roll Call Company | Getty Images
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 scientist Summarize There is credible evidence that cannabis provides medical benefits and poses lower health risks than other controlled substances.
Biden even made history during his State of the Union address this spring, mentioning marijuana for the first time from the House podium and noting the federal review process. “No one should be imprisoned for the use or possession of marijuana,” the president said in his speech.
When Biden served as vice president in former President Obama’s administration, the White House be opposed to Legalizing marijuana would “pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans.”
Jim Cole, who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, wrote the now-infamous article 2013 Cole Memo This paved the way for the modern cannabis market. The memorandum reduces federal intervention in states that have legalized marijuana as long as they implement “robust 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 Marijuana Roundtable, told NBC News this week that reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III would “open up the ability to actually test marijuana and put it into labs without having to take action.” All restrictions” on Schedule I drugs.
Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former Obama administration adviser, said the decision to reclassify marijuana was “the result of a politicized process” that he believed “will be a huge problem for America’s kids.” To be devastating, they will be bombarded with attractive advertising and promotions for child-friendly pot products. “
“The only winner here is the cannabis industry, which will get new tax breaks that will expand their profit margins,” Sabet said. “Reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III drug sends the message that cannabis is now more valuable than ever. Less addictive and dangerous than ever. In fact, today’s high-potency, super-potent marijuana is more likely to be addictive and linked to psychosis and other mental illnesses, reduced IQ, and other ailments.
On April 27, 2024, U.S. President Biden delivered a speech at the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) dinner held at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smirovsky | AFP | Getty Images
Some challenges ahead
As the DEA proposes rule changes, public review periods may result in challenges to, and possibly changes to, proposed rescheduling decisions. In the meantime, the drug and the industry will immediately benefit from the DEA’s announcement.
But once the public comment period ends and the Office of Management and Budget reviews it, Congress will be able to overturn the rule under the Congressional Review Act, which gives the legislative branch the power to weigh in on rules issued by federal agencies. The Democrats have a 51-seat majority in the Senate, and for the CRA to succeed, it requires the support of two-thirds of both chambers of Congress, so it is unlikely to pass. While marijuana remains a divisive topic on Capitol Hill, there is growing bipartisan support for marijuana reform, driven largely by voters.
Nearly six in 10 Americans believe marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, according to a survey. Pew Research Center poll last month. Recreational use of marijuana is legal in 24 states.
The Florida Supreme Court is reviewing a proposed recreational marijuana constitutional amendment.
Brad Horrigan | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Congress is considering its own bill
Congress is considering its own measures to make it easier for legal marijuana businesses to thrive and allow more small and minority-owned stores to flood the market.
this Safer Banking ActFor example, legal cannabis businesses would be allowed to access traditional banking and financial services and could pass the House and Senate before the end of the year.
Lawmakers are also considering HOPE ActAnother bipartisan bill would provide state and local governments with resources to automatically expunge records for minor, nonviolent marijuana crimes.
There is also a Democratic-only effort to remove marijuana entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, empowering states to enact their own marijuana laws and prioritizing restorative and economic justice for people affected by the war on drugs.
But lawmakers who remember the last time Congress enacted laws on the drug are weary.
Republican-led Senate legalizes hemp production in 2018 farm bill, resulting in decisions Synthetic and exotic cannabinoids sold over the counter are often unregulated, especially in states where marijuana is not legal.
It’s a gray area that’s been met with bipartisan opposition, most recently The Rise of Delta-8: A synthetic THC product that uses chemicals, some of which are harmful, to convert hemp-derived CBD into Delta-8 THC.
About The Author
