Lawmakers Demand DEA Action: The Push to Reclassify Cannabis Intensifies

Senators and Representatives Unite in Urgent Call for Cannabis Rescheduling

Summary

• A group of 21 lawmakers, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and John Fetterman, has called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I.
• They emphasize the need for swift action in line with President Joe Biden’s intention to reassess cannabis classification under the Controlled Substances Act.
• The lawmakers note that it has been 18 months since the Health and Human Services Department recommended classifying cannabis as a less restricted Schedule III drug, yet the DEA has not acted on the recommendation.
• Signatories of the letter, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, highlight internal discord within the DEA on the issue.

In a recent push for cannabis policy reform, 21 lawmakers reached out to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), expressing their growing impatience and urging the agency to reclassify cannabis from its current Schedule I status. The collective of 11 senators and 10 House representatives, led by prominent figures such as Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), emphasized the need for swift action in alignment with President Joe Biden’s intentions to reassess cannabis’s classification under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The correspondence, directed at DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and Attorney General Merrick Garland, highlights the passage of 18 months since President Biden instructed the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to review cannabis’s scheduling. This period includes the eight months subsequent to the HHS’s recommendation to classify cannabis as a less restricted Schedule III drug. The lawmakers critically note that despite historical precedence for such reviews taking up to six months, the DEA has yet to act on the HHS’s recommendation amidst internal contention.

Signatories of the letter, including significant political figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others, have underscored the discord within the DEA as reported by a Wall Street Journal article. This disagreement pertains to the Biden administration’s stance on rescheduling, with opposing views regarding the proven medicinal benefits of cannabis and concerns over the increased potency of today’s strains compared to those of past decades.

Amid Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, where cannabis reform has been a notable agenda, the lawmakers urge DEA officials to promptly progress toward a rescheduling decision. They argue that the prolonged classification of marijuana under Schedule I continues to inflict unnecessarily harsh penalties on individuals and maintains the conflict between federal law and the cannabis statutes of a growing number of states.

This call for action comes against the backdrop of 24 states, alongside Washington, D.C., legalizing adult-use cannabis, and 38 states permitting medical cannabis, thus highlighting the pressing need for reconciling state and federal policies. Furthermore, the letter points out that the HHS’s findings suggest cannabis is associated with fewer adverse outcomes than alcohol, which remains unscheduled under the CSA.

The demand for clarity and action not only stresses the DEA’s delayed response to previous inquiries from senators but also highlights the critical opportunity the administration has to correct over five decades of cannabis policies that are deemed failed and racially discriminatory.