This is correct. The HHS recommended rescheduling, and the DEA hasn’t responded to the recommendation. They’re probably concerned it’ll affect their budget having fewer criminals to pursue.
In late 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing HHS to review marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, while giving a recommendation on whether it should be rescheduled. After a roughly year-long review, HHS sent a letter to the DEA in August requesting that they move marijuana to Schedule III.
They had their own review and recommended that Cannabis be moved from Schedule I(Drugs with no medicinal value and a high risk of harm/abuse - heroin,LSD,etc) to Schedule III(Drugs with low risk of harm/abuse and clear medicinal value - cough syrup,Ketamine,etc).
The Controlled Substances Act which established all our current drugs laws states that ONLY the DEA has the power to ultimately change the classification of any controlled substance. If the DEA does not feel inclined to change this, then nothing will happen with the recommendation. Biden can always play political hardball since the head of the agency is an appointed position, but it would still need to be confirmed by the Senate in the end.
I wouldn’t expect to see a drop to schedule III, but I think in the next five or so year we may see it become schedule II. Progress is progress I guess.
Exactly. He could issue an executive order, but if the DEA doesn’t agree before the order expires, it would be far more of devastating to the industry as a whole.
He literally did issue an executive order, in late 2022. The DEA seem to have their thumbs up their arses though.
Edit: It seems likely that I was incorrect here. I was going off of the article linked in the top level comment (https://themarijuanaherald.com/2024/04/a-complete-timeline-of-the-deas-marijuana-scheduling-review-prompted-by-department-of-health-recommendation/ ) which states that Biden did issue an executive order. It appears that the article was wrong, but more than that, I was wrong to assert this so confidently when I had only skim read an article and didn’t follow up on its sources (plus I’m not American, so I should be more mindful of checking things if I’m commenting on US government related stuff.
The DEA seem like a large part of the problem and there may well be more that Biden could be doing to move this along, but I don’t know enough to speculate.
I don’t have a link because it appears that you’re right and I was mistaken. I’ve edited my comment to reflect that, I apologise for speaking so confidently on something that actually, I wasn’t sure of. Thanks for challenging me on it — realising I was wrong has made me feel like a bit of an arse right now, but I’d rather feel that than be blissfully ignorant and spreading misinformation. I appreciate the time you spent to fact check me.
It’s all good. Happens to the best of us. If there were an executive order, I’d like to know about it. They’re temporary proclamations, which are good for buying time to get proper legislation in place. If he had changed the classification with an EO, the dispensaries would invest in the new liberty. If the DEA failed to come though before the EO expired, the dispensaries would be in violation of the law. They’re really only to be used during a crisis when proper legislation is sure to follow.
Tying law enforcement funding to their arrests is just the most idiotic idea and I am shocked at how few Congress folks have been speed trapped if they actually can’t see why
This is correct. The HHS recommended rescheduling, and the DEA hasn’t responded to the recommendation. They’re probably concerned it’ll affect their budget having fewer criminals to pursue.
This is the relevant bit from the article:
They had their own review and recommended that Cannabis be moved from Schedule I(Drugs with no medicinal value and a high risk of harm/abuse - heroin,LSD,etc) to Schedule III(Drugs with low risk of harm/abuse and clear medicinal value - cough syrup,Ketamine,etc).
The Controlled Substances Act which established all our current drugs laws states that ONLY the DEA has the power to ultimately change the classification of any controlled substance. If the DEA does not feel inclined to change this, then nothing will happen with the recommendation. Biden can always play political hardball since the head of the agency is an appointed position, but it would still need to be confirmed by the Senate in the end.
I wouldn’t expect to see a drop to schedule III, but I think in the next five or so year we may see it become schedule II. Progress is progress I guess.
Exactly. He could issue an executive order, but if the DEA doesn’t agree before the order expires, it would be far more of devastating to the industry as a whole.
He literally did issue an executive order, in late 2022.The DEA seem to have their thumbs up their arses though.Edit: It seems likely that I was incorrect here. I was going off of the article linked in the top level comment (https://themarijuanaherald.com/2024/04/a-complete-timeline-of-the-deas-marijuana-scheduling-review-prompted-by-department-of-health-recommendation/ ) which states that Biden did issue an executive order. It appears that the article was wrong, but more than that, I was wrong to assert this so confidently when I had only skim read an article and didn’t follow up on its sources (plus I’m not American, so I should be more mindful of checking things if I’m commenting on US government related stuff.
The DEA seem like a large part of the problem and there may well be more that Biden could be doing to move this along, but I don’t know enough to speculate.
I only see a presidential proclamation on justice.gov and a statement on whitehouse.gov. Do you have a link to the executive order?
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/
I don’t have a link because it appears that you’re right and I was mistaken. I’ve edited my comment to reflect that, I apologise for speaking so confidently on something that actually, I wasn’t sure of. Thanks for challenging me on it — realising I was wrong has made me feel like a bit of an arse right now, but I’d rather feel that than be blissfully ignorant and spreading misinformation. I appreciate the time you spent to fact check me.
It’s all good. Happens to the best of us. If there were an executive order, I’d like to know about it. They’re temporary proclamations, which are good for buying time to get proper legislation in place. If he had changed the classification with an EO, the dispensaries would invest in the new liberty. If the DEA failed to come though before the EO expired, the dispensaries would be in violation of the law. They’re really only to be used during a crisis when proper legislation is sure to follow.
Adderall is schedule 2
You’re right, I edited that bit to replace it with Ketamine!
Tying law enforcement funding to their arrests is just the most idiotic idea and I am shocked at how few Congress folks have been speed trapped if they actually can’t see why
Plus, the potheads are probably easier to catch.