Tag Archives: Reschedule

Editorial, Featured, Politics

Our Reaction to Rescheduling: It’s Politics, not Science

Our initial reaction to the announcement that the Biden Administration may reschedule marijuana is that it is a political move intended to get young voters. We have not seen a Press Release.  If true, this move is not based on science, or it’s based on bad science.  We support whatever Smart Approaches to Marijuana decides to do in terms of legal options or other avenues to stop rescheduling. 

More than 100 individuals who are victims of marijuana or have family members who are victims wrote to the DEA and the DOJ and pleaded with the DEA not to reschedule marijuana.  We’ve written about the differences between decriminalization, rescheduling and legalization with commercialization.
 Continue reading Our Reaction to Rescheduling: It’s Politics, not Science →

Drug Policy, Politics

Keep Cannabis a Schedule I Drug

The Secretary of Health and Human Services has recommended changing the Schedule I classification for marijuana (cannabis).  HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, an attorney from California who made the announcement,  has no background in science or medicine.  It was a political move, rather than scientifically-informed recommendation.

The ultimate decision falls on the DEA and the Department of Justice. If the HHS recommendation is followed, marijuana would be a “Schedule III” drug instead of its current “Schedule I” status.

Pro-cannabis supporters see that possibility as a major victory, because it would pave the way for expanded legalization. We encourage our followers to contact the DEA directly to object to this proposal, and also reach out to your elected officials.

Recent attempts to reschedule marijuana were rejected in 2016, under the Obama administration, and in  2015  by Judge Kimberly Mueller of the Ninth Circuit Court.  It was also dismissed in 2012, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The three judges presiding on that panel included current Attorney General Merrick Garland.  Information about the dangers of marijuana has grown substantially in the last decade. Continue reading Keep Cannabis a Schedule I Drug →