Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug, officials sayhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/30/marijuana-restrictions-loosen/
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday will recommend loosening restrictions on marijuana in what would be a historic shift in federal drug policy, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The measure, if enacted, would not legalize marijuana at the federal level but could broaden access to the drug for medicinal use and boost cannabis industries in states where it is legal. The move may also prove to be a political win for President Biden, who is campaigning for reelection and has sought to ameliorate racial and criminal justice inequities wrought by the nation’s long war on drugs.
The Justice Department was scheduled to submit the formal recommendation to the White House on Tuesday. It follows the Drug Enforcement Administration’s approval of the Department of Health and Human Services recommendation that marijuana be reclassified.
The White House Office of Management and Budget must review the measure, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administrative matters. The measure, if accepted, would not go into effect for months until the public has a chance to comment.
The DEA’s approval was first reported Tuesday by the Associated Press. The DEA, the Justice Department and the White House declined to comment.
For more than five decades, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I controlled substance with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Under the DEA’s proposed change, marijuana would go to the less risky Schedule III — in the same tier as prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.
The historic policy shift comes as marijuana is easier than ever to obtain and has become an industry worth billions of dollars in the United States. Thirty-eight states and D.C. have legalized medical marijuana programs, and 24 have approved recreational marijuana.
In October 2022, Biden directed health officials to expedite a review of whether marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance. In August, HHS notified DEA that it was recommending marijuana be reclassified. The agency relied on a Food and Drug Administration scientific analysis that found marijuana has an accepted medical use and evidence it can treat certain conditions, including nausea and vomiting. It also cited studies showing “moderate benefit” of smoking marijuana for pain.
Cannabis advocates Tuesday hailed the potential change as a milestone that will signal that criminal cases should assume a lower priority.
“This is going to help to normalize cannabis more than anything that’s ever occurred in the U.S. since they started the war on drugs,” said David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs at the U.S. Cannabis Council, an industry advocacy group. “This is the most significant federal cannabis reform in modern history, and I think sets us on a path for the ultimate goal of federal legalization.”
Other advocates asserted that the reclassification doesn’t go far enough. They want to see marijuana removed from the schedule system entirely and regulated like tobacco and alcohol.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group, said treating marijuana as a prescription drug would not legitimize how cannabis is available through a vast network of dispensaries and delivery services in legal state markets.
“Those involved in the state legal marijuana industry and the tens of millions of Americans who patronize that industry are all acting in a manner that is inconsistent with federal law,” Armentano said. “Theoretically, if the federal government wished to do so, all of these players could be prosecuted for being in violation of the federal law.”
The rapid legalization of marijuana facilitated the rise of a booming industry of growers, processors, dispensaries and other cannabis companies. But the industry has struggled in recent years as it faced continued competition from the illicit market along with a glut of supply in some states driving down prices. States collected $3.77 billion in cannabis taxes in 2022, down from $3.86 billion in 2021 in the first-ever decline in revenue, according to a report from the Marijuana Policy Project.
Under IRS code 280E, businesses that sell Schedule I substances cannot deduct business expenses, resulting in a substantially higher tax rate for companies that grow and sell marijuana. But with marijuana reclassified, they will be eligible for the tax breaks.
Kaliko Castille, former board president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, said many cannabis companies have been struggling to become profitable in part because of high taxes.
“This will potentially help small businesses who are struggling around the country get into the black,” Castille said. “My concern is although this will provide some relief for small businesses, it may actually lead to more consolidation and smoking out smaller players.”
The long-expected recommendation has not been embraced in all corners. Some former federal law enforcement officials and conservative members of Congress have said stripping marijuana’s Schedule I status would hinder attempts to prosecute drug traffickers and harm public health.
While marijuana has been shown to have medicinal benefits, some studies have also found that the drug has downsides, including addiction and negative effects on the developing brain.
“If the Biden Administration follows through with rescheduling, this decision will be anti-science and harmful to public health and safety,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), one of the most vocal cannabis critics in Congress, posted on X.
Former president Donald Trump, who’s expected to be the Republican nominee for president again, has campaigned in the past on allowing states to set their own policies for marijuana, saying he supports the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes. He has not weighed in on whether he supports a reclassification of marijuana under federal law.
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