Marijuana rescheduling – The holy grail of the cannabis industry gets a bipartisan push on President Biden

As the Biden administration probes state planning for marijuana, a bipartisan group of congressmen is urging the president to openly support full legalization. Recently, Marijuana Moment received a letter intended to be addressed to President Joe Biden and key Cabinet officials.

Congressmen said in the letter that while they welcome the rescheduling policy, the administration should embrace the benefits of a full rescheduling. The letter states that while congressmen do not always agree with a particular policy, they recognize that ongoing federal criminalization and prohibition of cannabis do not reflect the desires of the larger American population. It is high time that the Biden administration’s agenda adequately reflected this reality.

As Politico first reported, current signatories include Vice Chairs of Congressional Cannabis Caucus Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dave Joyce (R-OH), Brian Mast ( R-FL) and Barbara Lee (D-CA). More signatures are needed before the letter is completed in the next few days.

In their letter to the President, lawmakers stated that cannabis does not belong in Class I of the Controlled Substances Act Schedule I. The class is reserved for extremely hazardous substances with a high potential for abuse and no medical purpose. The decision to market cannabis was based on stigma rather than evidence and it is time to right that injustice.

According to the letter, determining cannabis can preserve state and federal authority to regulate cannabis while allowing states the right to continue criminalizing the production and sale of cannabis. The letter also notes that the House of Representatives has twice supported proposals to federally legalize, regulate and tax cannabis.

Additionally, the discriminatory classification of cannabis and the standardization of state cannabis regulations are going hand-in-hand — like the elimination of prohibitions and a greater burden on researchers trying to study cannabis in comparison to other Schedule I drugs. The federal government must end this criminalization and ban otherwise legal marijuana.

This will make it possible to advance meaningful research, create legal employment opportunities, promote public safety over unjust incarceration, and uphold established government oversight over the taxation, production and sale of cannabis. The letter goes on to explain that the need for state guidance and legislative action on many of these facets must be considered. Still, all parts of the federal government need to recognize the importance of de-planning cannabis. These federal sections must also do so in a manner that respects state sovereignty, markets, and the laws that fall within each state’s purview.

The Coalition is distributing this letter as leaders in Congress’ race against time to pass tougher cannabis banking and extinguishing laws during the lame duck session.

One last desperate try

According to a senior Senate Democratic adviser, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is making “a last-ditch effort” to include incremental reform in upcoming omnibus appropriation legislation. However, key figures like Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have been obstacles.

Proponents would obviously wish more legalization to be passed sooner rather than later. However, it has become clear that the Senate needs more backing to get the required 60 votes for approval. The letter to Biden doesn’t necessarily ask him to unilaterally take action to lift the ban. Still, his support for the issue can make a significant difference. So far, the President has supported decriminalization and allowed states to choose their own rules. Still, he was unwilling to support federal legalization.

The coalition claims that rescheduling is needed to remove harmful federal cannabis prohibition and help law enforcement give public safety the priority it deserves. The repeal of the plan also creates an opportunity to tax and regulate commercial cannabis activities, which is the most practical way to reduce the legal uncertainties faced by small businesses in jurisdictions with regulated cannabis markets.

The coalition understands that the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services will continue to work expeditiously to carry out the Marijuana Planning Review you have ordered. The importance of a complete postponement should guide the government’s approach to comprehensive cannabis reform. At the same time, Congress is working to give you comprehensive cannabis legislation. The constant inappropriate planning of marijuana is both esoteric and inconsistent with what the American people want. To take this important action, the coalition hopes the Biden administration will engage openly and constructively with Congress.

A reply to the undated letter

CCed on the undated letter is US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, who recently tweeted a hyperlink to a Marijuana Moment article about the President’s administrative cannabis planning policy. “We’re going to evaluate what scientific evidence tells us,” Becerra, a former congressman and California attorney general who has long advocated cannabis legalization, said at a recent overdose prevention conference. “That will guide our actions, and we hope it will guide the federal government’s actions.”

Following the president’s announcement of cannabis pardons and deadlines, the secretary stated that the department would act as soon as possible to complete the scientific study. He also mentioned that there had been a discussion with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner. The congressmen’s letter will also be sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose Justice Department is overseeing the planning review.

Meanwhile, the White House drug czar recently declared that the President’s action was “historic” and that cannabis had obvious medicinal benefits. Like HHS, the DOJ has committed to expediting the separate planning study requested by the President, which could lead to a proposal to put cannabis on a lower schedule or scrap it entirely, legalizing cannabis under federal law.

Conclusion

Additionally, following his federal clemency measure, Biden recently applauded the Oregon governor’s decision to pardon thousands of marijuana offenders this month. He also advises other states to “follow Oregon’s example. This month, the president also formally enacted the country’s first separate federal cannabis reform bill by signing a marijuana research bill into law.

Numerous polls have also shown that Americans strongly support the presidential pardon. These polls also show that Americans do not believe marijuana should be listed as a Schedule I substance by the federal government.

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