{"id":5913,"date":"2024-05-01T10:54:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T02:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=5913"},"modified":"2024-05-01T10:54:35","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T02:54:35","slug":"what-marijuana-reclassification-means-for-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=5913","title":{"rendered":"What marijuana reclassification means for the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn\u2019t legalize it for recreational use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal would move marijuana from the \u201cSchedule I\u201d group to the less tightly regulated \u201cSchedule III.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does that mean, and what are the implications?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT HAS ACTUALLY CHANGED? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technically, nothing yet. The proposal must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then undergo a public-comment period and review from an administrative judge, a potentially lengthy process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the switch is considered \u201cparadigm-shifting, and it\u2019s very exciting,\u201d Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Oregon-based cannabis and psychedelics attorney who runs well-known legal blogs on those topics, told The Associated Press when the federal Health and Human Services Department recommended the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t emphasize enough how big of news it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It came after President Joe Biden asked both HHS and the attorney general, who oversees the DEA, last year to review how marijuana was classified. Schedule I put it on par, legally, with heroin, LSD, quaaludes and ecstasy, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden, a Democrat, supports legalizing medical marijuana for use \u201cwhere appropriate, consistent with medical and scientific evidence,\u201d White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. \u201cThat is why it is important for this independent review to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IF MARIJUANA GETS RECLASSIFIED, WOULD IT LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL CANNABIS NATIONWIDE?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. Schedule III drugs \u2014 which include ketamine, anabolic steroids and some acetaminophen-codeine combinations \u2014 are still controlled substances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re subject to various rules that allow for some medical uses, and for federal criminal prosecution of anyone who traffics in the drugs without permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No changes are expected to the medical marijuana programs now licensed in 38 states or the legal recreational cannabis markets in 23 states, but it\u2019s unlikely they would meet the federal production, record-keeping, prescribing and other requirements for Schedule III drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There haven\u2019t been many federal prosecutions for simply possessing marijuana in recent years, even under marijuana\u2019s current Schedule I status, but the reclassification wouldn\u2019t have an immediate impact on people already in the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPut simple, this move from Schedule I to Schedule III is not getting people out of jail,\u201d said David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs at the U.S. Cannabis Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But rescheduling in itself would have some impact, particularly on research and marijuana business taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT WOULD THIS MEAN FOR RESEARCH?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because marijuana is on Schedule I, it\u2019s been very difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies that involve administering the drug. That has created something of a Catch-22: calls for more research, but barriers to doing it. (Scientists sometimes rely instead on people\u2019s own reports of their marijuana use.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule III drugs are easier to study, though the reclassification wouldn\u2019t immediately reverse all barriers to study, Culver said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT ABOUT TAXES (AND BANKING)?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the federal tax code, businesses involved in \u201ctrafficking\u201d in marijuana or any other Schedule I or II drug can\u2019t deduct rent, payroll or various other expenses that other businesses can write off. (Yes, at least some cannabis businesses, particularly state-licensed ones, do pay taxes to the federal government, despite its prohibition on marijuana.) Industry groups say the tax rate often ends up at 70% or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deduction rule doesn\u2019t apply to Schedule III drugs, so the proposed change would cut cannabis companies\u2019 taxes substantially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say it would treat them like other industries and help them compete against illegal competitors that are frustrating licensees and officials in places such as New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to make these state-legal programs stronger,\u201d says Adam Goers, an executive at medical and recreational cannabis giant Columbia Care. He co-chairs a coalition of corporate and other players that\u2019s pushing for rescheduling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could also mean more cannabis promotion and advertising if those costs could be deducted, according to Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rescheduling wouldn\u2019t directly affect another marijuana business problem: difficulty accessing banks, particularly for loans, because the federally regulated institutions are wary of the drug\u2019s legal status. The industry has been looking instead to a measure called the SAFE Banking Act. It has repeatedly passed the House but stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARE THERE CRITICS? WHAT DO THEY SAY?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, there are, including the national anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. President Kevin Sabet, a former Obama administration drug policy official, said the HHS recommendation \u201cflies in the face of science, reeks of politics\u201d and gives a regrettable nod to an industry \u201cdesperately looking for legitimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some legalization advocates say rescheduling weed is too incremental. They want to keep the focus on removing it completely from the controlled substances list, which doesn\u2019t include such items as alcohol or tobacco (they\u2019re regulated, but that\u2019s not the same).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that simply reclassifying marijuana would be \u201cperpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies.\u201d Minority Cannabis Business Association President Kaliko Castille said rescheduling just \u201cre-brands prohibition,\u201d rather than giving an all-clear to state licensees and putting a definitive close to decades of arrests that disproportionately pulled in people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchedule III is going to leave it in this kind of amorphous, mucky middle where people are not going to understand the danger of it still being federally illegal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn\u2019t legalize it for recreational use. The proposal would move marijuana from the \u201cSchedule I\u201d group to the less tightly regulated \u201cSchedule III.\u201d So what does that mean, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-5913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat marijuana reclassification means for the United States - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=5913\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What marijuana reclassification means for the United States - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. 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