Doctors and the public support replanning on a large scale

After a few tough weeks, political change could help the cannabis industry

It's been a wild week in politics, and the cannabis industry is holding its breath. The Biden administration promised during the 2020 election to work toward legalization, but didn't do so until late 2023, and no real action happened until 2024, a presidential election year. The administration eventually requested that cannabis be reclassified to Schedule III, similar to ibuprofen. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have done research and clearly stated that it offers medical benefits. HHS and FDA support legalizing cannabis, but the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been more cautious. Now it has been made clear that doctors and the public support reclassification on a large scale.

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As a show of support, the American College of Physicians has issued a paper expressing support for replanning and perhaps even more. This follows support from the American Medical Association. And the DEA received significant feedback from the public during the public feedback session on replanning. The question is, will the DEA follow the medical community, federal colleagues and the public in officially replanning?

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In July, the American College of Physicians released a paper outlining their views on future cannabis use. In support of the reclassification, the respected organization also called for more research and the decriminalization of small personal amounts, among other things. This makes sense, given that over half of Americans live in a state with legal adult-use cannabis and three out of four Americans live in a state that has legalized cannabis for medical purposes.

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The other key takeaway for the DEA is feedback, or how it stands in public opinion. More than 40,000 comments were submitted by various agencies, organizations, academics and concerned citizens. An overwhelming 91% of comments were in favor of the reclassification proposal or its legalization under federal law, according to a data analysis conducted by Headset. The analysis found that of those in favor of a change, 56% were in favor of removing cannabis from the classification entirely and 35% were in favor of reclassifying it into a less restrictive category.

Now the decision is in the hands of the DEA, a federal agency that has been very reluctant to support any kind of loosening of marijuana restrictions. It is now up to the government to act.