HHS: Cannabis in Appendix III – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended that cannabis be classified as Schedule III or a lower risk drug.

Cannabis is currently classified as Schedule I under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, placing it in the same category as heroin. Schedule I drugs have no medical value and harbor a high potential for abuse.

Last October, the Biden administration initiated a process to consider whether cannabis belongs in this category. Despite legalization in many states (and legalization of medicinal cannabis in all but seven states), cannabis is illegal even for medicinal purposes at the federal level.

The White House has delegated the task to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They assigned responsibility to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the HSS. HHS then sent a letter of recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

If this all sounds bureaucratic and at odds with the country’s founding principles, join the club.

So does this mean that cannabis is now a Schedule III drug? Not exactly. HHS conducted a “scientific and medical evaluation” for the DEA to consider. The DEA is under no obligation to follow its recommendation.

Even the White House is no help.

“The administrative process is an independent process, administered by HHS, directed by the Department of Justice, and evidence-driven,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We’re just not going to comment on that.”

Now it’s up to the DEA

With the Covid-cannabis bubble completely deflated and banking reform making no more headway in 2023 than it did in 2022 or 2021, US investors are turning away from cannabis.

Capital is drying up as banks and other financial institutions crack down on the “illegal” industry. Trade across state lines is banned, leading to cannabis oversupply and falling prices in some areas, while others face high prices and shortages.

A federal reclassification can expand the market by removing trade and banking restrictions.

In the letter to the DEA, HHS said the government should regulate cannabis as a Schedule III drug. Schedule III indicates moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. When postponed, cannabis joins ketamine and anabolic steroids.

Cannabis debt restructuring is now in the hands of the DEA.

It took almost a year to implement the HHS recommendation. Meanwhile, the media parrots Biden’s federal pardon of juvenile cannabis convictions as if he’d released anyone. (No one is in federal prison for minor cannabis offenses).

Many, including CLN, suspect that all of the Biden administration’s cannabis-related maneuvers are merely a nod to the 2024 election. That sentiment prompted Biden to initiate that review and issue “federal pardons” ahead of the midterm elections.

The idea is that young voters will vote for Democrats if they promise to reform cannabis laws.

But even if the DEA agrees and cannabis is a Schedule III drug by the end of the year, Prohibition won’t end there.

HHS: Cannabis on Schedule III

Banking, American background, US dollar bank

The HHS letter reclassifying cannabis as Schedule III appears to be good news. However, unauthorized possession of a Schedule III drug is still a criminal offense.

The White House will continue to consider recreational and medicinal cannabis illegal at the state level. However, there is good news about the HHS’ recommendation to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III.

Because cannabis is prohibited at the federal level, state corporations cannot apply federal tax laws like other corporations. That means they can’t grant exemptions for business expenses like benefits.

However, this code does not apply to Schedule III drugs. If the DEA agrees to the HHS’ recommendation and reclassifies cannabis to Schedule III, the U.S. cannabis industry will pay far less federal taxes.

The industry needs this reform. At this point, it is unlikely that the SAFE Banking Act will ever come into force. Unfortunately, as is all too common these days, legislators have failed and the unelected administrative bureaucracy makes all the decisions.

But beyond banking, the HHS’ recommendation to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III means research would be more readily available.

Universities and pharmaceutical companies have fewer restrictions on Schedule III medicines than Schedule I medicines. However, this can be a double-edged sword.

Schedule III drugs are not available over the counter like cannabis in legal states. To better align with federal policies, some states may restrict cannabis accessibility.

However, most analysts believe that the rescheduling (if it comes to pass) will have little impact on state-level cannabis markets, which already violate federal laws.

What is the proper role of the US federal government?

While some welcome the HHS’ recommendation to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III, others react differently. As previously mentioned, Schedule III will not end the criminalization of cannabis, nor will it legitimize producers and operators at the state level.

More importantly, no one can point out where the Constitution prohibits cannabis. Federal laws prohibiting cannabis are unconstitutional and therefore void.

States have rightly reaffirmed their sovereignty in this matter.

Unlike most countries where the central government can overrule states, territories, or provinces, in the United States it’s the other way around.

The states have formed the federal government and can leave the union at any time.

Some argue that war between states in the 19th century disproved this idea. But as the saying goes: history is written by the winners.

And since the North won the war, it was renamed a war to free the slaves. Yet no credible history book written before the 1960s seriously explores this idea.

Like many of our contemporary notions of politics and the proper role of government, a Great Society revolution swept America and the West after World War II.

“Political scientists” merged civil society and the state into one entity. For example, to argue against public education is to argue against all education.

Absurdities like “we are the government” and that the national debt is something “we owe ourselves” became commonplace.

The tide could turn. So-called “right-wing” populism fosters this disconnect between state elites and the citizens they rule.

However, we still have a long way to go. Response to the HHS recommendation to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug sheds light on this issue.

The only correct answer to the news is to ask these bureaucrats where in the constitution they have the power to regulate cannabis.