After a rough few weeks, the political change might be a help to the cannabis industry
It has been a wild week when it comes to politics and the cannabis industry is holding its breath. The Biden administration made a promise during the 2020 election to move toward legalization, but didn’t move on it until late 2023, and no real action happened until 2024, a presidential election year. The administration finally asked to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III, similar to Ibuprofen. Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did they research and clearly stated it provides medical benefits. HHS and FDA back cannabis being but the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been more cautious. Now, it has been made clear physicians and the public back rescheduling in a major way.
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In a show of support, the American College of Physicians issued a paper showing support of rescheduling and perhaps more. This follows support from the American Medical Association. And the DEA received significant feedback from the public during the public feedback session regarding rescheduling. The questions are will the DEA follow the medical community, the federal peers, and the public with officially rescheduling?
In July, the American College of Physicians issued a paper which serves as a statement regarding their view of cannabis moving forward. In support of rescheduling, the esteemed organization also encouraged more research, decriminalization for small personal amounts, among other things. With over half of Americans living in a state with legal adult use cannabis and three out of four Americans live in a state that has legalized cannabis for medical use, it makes sense.
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The other big notice for the DEA is the feedback, is where the it sits with public opinion. More than 40,000 comments were submitted by various agencies, organizations, academics, and concerned citizens. An overwhelming 91% of comments were submitted in favor of the rescheduling proposal or making it legal under federal law, according to an analysis of the data conducted by Headset. The analysis found that among those supporting a change 56% advocated for complete descheduling of cannabis and 35% supported rescheduling to a less restrictive category.
Now, the decision is in the hands of the DEA, a federal agency which has shown major reluctance in supporting any type of loosening of marijuana restrictions. It will be on the administration to act.
