A Schedule III designation is still overly restrictive for marijuana

Thursday, June 27, 2024 15:19

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A version of the following comment was submitted to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on June 27, 2024.

We applaud President Joe Biden for requesting the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to initiate a rescheduling hearing for marijuana on October 6, 2022. We are further pleased with the review of scientific literature subsequently undertaken by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that resulted in a series of binding conclusions that marijuana has accepted medical use and holds lesser potential for abuse than other substances currently listed in Schedules II under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel has advised that any requirements imposed by international treaties to which the United States is a party to make a substance contraband cannot supersede the scheduling procedures set forth elsewhere in the Controlled Substances Act. In other words, the DEA holds impeded authority to determine the proper scheduling of marijuana under the criteria outlined in 21 U.S.C. 811(a) through (c). HHS has recommended marijuana be moved to Schedule III, and we are commenting on the DEA’s regulatory hearing to consider this recommendation.

The DEA has specifically solicited public input on the possible “unique economic impacts” of rescheduling, given that “marijuana is subject to a number of State laws that have allowed a multibillion dollar industry to develop.” Reason Foundation has published extensive research on the possible economic impacts of moving marijuana to Schedule III and is uniquely positioned to inform this request by the DEA.

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The post A Schedule III designation is still overly restrictive for marijuana appeared first on Reason Foundation.

Source: https://reason.org/testimony/a-schedule-iii-designation-is-still-overly-restrictive-for-marijuana/