DOJ takes step to reclassify marijuana
Would make pot use a less serious federal crime
The Biden administration is poised to make a landmark change to the federal government's position on marijuana with a proposed plan that would no longer consider it among the most dangerous and addictive substances.
In what would be the biggest change in marijuana policy the federal government has taken since pot was first outlawed, the Drug Enforcement Administration will take public comments on a plan to recategorize marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act, according to a source familiar with the process. The news was first reported by The Associated Press.
The Department of Justice will send its recommendation to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug to the White House Office of
Management and Budget, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly. The Justice Department was expected to transmit the recommendation Tuesday, the source said.
The plan wouldn't legalize marijuana at the federal level outright, but it would reclassify it from a Schedule I drug – believed highly dangerous, addictive and without medical use – to a Schedule III drug that can be lawfully prescribed as medication. Marijuana has been a Schedule I drug since the Controlled Substances Act was signed in 1970.
This move is only a small step toward what advocates hope will be full legalization of the drug. However, the new proposed classification does not fully address the inconsistencies between federal restrictions and the laws in a growing number of states that have authorized medical and recreational use of pot.
Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and 14 other states authorize it for medical use, according to the Pew Research Center.
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The federal proposal to reschedule marijuana would have broad support among voters. A nationwide survey last fall commissioned by the Coalition for Cannabis Rescheduling Reform found nearly 60% of likely voters supported rescheduling, with 65% of younger voters 18 to 25 favoring it, the highest of any demographic group polled. Overall, the number of Americans who think marijuana should be legal reached a recordhigh at 70%, according to a Gallup poll last fall.
For decades, marijuana has been listed under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin, LSD and ecstasy. The act categorizes drugs based on their potential for abuse, addiction and medical use. Schedule I drugs are outlawed under federal law and deemed to be without accepted medical use.
In 2022, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a review of how marijuana is classified; and last year HHS recommended it be rescheduled to Schedule III, alongside drugs like Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids. The Justice Department did its own analysis and reached the same conclusion, the source said.
The proposal will undergo a public review period; the source did not say when the proposed rule would be open to public comment.
Experts previously told USA TODAY that marijuana's placement on Schedule I was not based on credible scientific evidence of its perils, but once it was listed, researchers and advocates faced a heavy burden trying to prove it shouldn't face such stiff restrictions.
Because of its classification, marijuana has been hard to study. But the move to reschedule marijuana is due in large part to its lower public health risk, federal scientists have said.
In a leaked HHS document, officials wrote to the DEA to support lowering its classification to Schedule III. Its risk for addiction was lower than other drugs and it had medical benefits, unlike Schedule I and II drugs, HHS researchers said.
Still, scientists said, users develop moderate to low physical dependence on it, and there is some risk of psychological dependence. However, they noted,