Drug Policy

Joe Lancaster | 7.30.2024 4:20 PM

After the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed rescheduling marijuana under federal drug law and opened the issue up to public comments earlier this year, tens of thousands of people weighed in. While the overwhelming majority seemed to support loosening marijuana laws, prohibitionist lawmakers won't go down without a fight.

In May, the DEA submitted a rule to the Federal Register, proposing to change marijuana's classification under the Controlled Substances Act from Schedule I—drugs categorized as having "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse"—to Schedule III, meaning those with "a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence." With the change, marijuana would no longer be regulated as a dangerous substance akin to heroin or ecstasy and would instead be under the same rubric as testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.

A move from Schedule I to Schedule III would not mean full legalization or even be particularly close to that: While the change would open up the possibility that doctors could prescribe marijuana or its derivatives as medicine, it would still be regulated as a controlled substance, and anyone selling weed in states where it's recreationally legal would still be running afoul of federal law.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) first requested a rescheduling in August 2023, stating in........

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