USA: DEA accepts recommendation to reclassify cannabis

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has accepted the recommendation of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a federal agency in the United States of America (USA), to remove cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The news was released today by Associated Press (AP) and marks the beginning of a new era: “a historic shift for generations of American drug policy that could have broad effects across the country,” says the AP. However, NORML warns that reclassifying the cannabis plant to Schedule III does not adequately resolve the conflict between federal policy and the cannabis laws of most US states.

DEA's decision to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the US Controlled Substances Act comes eight months later The US Department of Health and Human Services advocates the change, stating that “the majority of individuals who use cannabis do so in a way that does not lead to dangerous outcomes for themselves or others.” The Biden administration has given federal agencies a review of the issue in October 2022, marking the first time a president has made such a request.

Also Kamala Harris, vice president of the USA, recently defended that the reclassification of cannabis on the narcotics schedule, warning that the fact that cannabis was treated under federal law in the same way as other Schedule I drugs, such as heroin or fentanyl, was “absurd” and “manifestly unfair”.

By definition, Schedule I substances are criminally prohibited by federal law because they have a “high potential for abuse” and have no accepted medicinal use in the USA. Cannabis has remained classified as a Schedule I controlled substance since 1970.

The DEA's determination must now be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, according to the AP.

The agency's decision, confirmed to the AP on Tuesday by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regulatory review, clears the last significant regulatory hurdle before the agency's biggest policy change in more than 50 years. years could happen.

Once the Office of Management and Budget approves, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to remove cannabis from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin and LSD. Cannabis moves to Schedule III, along with ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following the recommendation of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. After the public comment period and a review by an administrative law judge, the agency must publish the final regulations.

NORML welcomes decision, but warns of regulatory conflicts
The deputy director of NORML, Paul Armentano, said in a press release that “it is significant for these federal agencies, and for the DEA and FDA in particular, to publicly recognize for the first time what many patients and advocates have known for decades: that cannabis is a therapeutic agent safe and effective for tens of millions of Americans.”

Armentano cautioned, however, that reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III substance will not immediately resolve the growing gap between federal law and the laws of most states that currently regulate cannabis for medical or adult use.

“The goal of any reform of federal cannabis policy should be to address the existing and unsustainable divide between federal cannabis policy and the cannabis laws of most US states,” he recalled. “Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III does not adequately resolve this conflict, as existing state legalization laws – both for adult use and medicinal purposes – will continue to conflict with federal regulations, thus perpetuating the existing divide. between state and federal cannabis policies.”

Historically, Schedule III substances have received explicit market approval by the FDA: possession is only legal when obtained from licensed pharmacies under a prescription.

“Just as it is intellectually dishonest and impractical to categorize cannabis in the same position as heroin, it is equally false and impractical to treat cannabis in the same way as anabolic steroids and ketamine,” warned Armentano. “Most Americans believe that cannabis should be legal and that its health risks are less significant than those associated with non-federally scheduled substances such as alcohol and tobacco. In fact, HHS reached a similar conclusion regarding the safety profile of cannabis in its own analysis.”

NORML has long argued that the cannabis plant should be removed entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, thus providing state governments – not the federal government – ​​the ability to regulate cannabis as they see fit without violating federal law. , allowing the federal government to provide standards and guidelines for regulated cannabis markets.

Despite the DEA's decision, Armentano speculated that federal agencies may ultimately ask Congress to create new regulatory pathways for cannabis products, especially those for adult use. The FDA made a similar order in 2023 with respect to hemp-derived CBD products, which it determined did not fall under any existing regulatory framework.