No, President Biden cannot legalize or postpone weed, even with an executive order

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and was republished with permission.

Interesting paper recently released by a group called the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on whether President Biden can legalize marijuana all by himself, or at least move it all by himself (hence de facto legalize it if you’re familiar with the industry). While many believe Biden can legalize marijuana with the flick of a pen if he wants to, it just doesn’t. Could he make a call and have it postponed as some of the leading cannabis industry leaders have suggested? Not so fast, says the CRS.

The problem arises from the CSA, or Controlled Substance Act, which lists cannabis as a List 1 narcotic. List 1 narcotics are not intended to have any medicinal purpose or benefit, which has long been the main topic of conversation about the removal of medical marijuana from List 1 of the list in the CSA. Cannabis certainly has medicinal benefits as more and more research is published every week.

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As the CRS Legal Sidebar says about legalization:

The debate over whether the president can legalize or decriminalize marijuana begs the question of what it means to “legalize” or “decriminalize” a List I controlled substance. “Legalization” of marijuana could mean moving the substance from List I to another list of the CSA so that the manufacture, distribution and possession of marijuana for medical purposes is legal according to the registration requirements of the CSA; or it could mean removing marijuana entirely from the control of the CSA. “Decriminalization” generally refers to maintaining some form of marijuana ban, but enforcing the ban only through non-criminal sanctions, such as civil fines.

But what about moving marijuana or removing it from Schedule 1 status? Well, it’s not good news either. The CRS right sidebar reads:

If the president tried to act on controlled substances regulation, he would likely do so by ordinance. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the President has the power to issue an executive order only if he is required by “a law of Congress or. . . the constitution itself ”. The CSA does not give the President a direct role in the classification of controlled substances, nor does Article II of the Constitution give the President any powers in this area (the Federal Controlled Substances Act is an exercise of the power of Congress to regulate trade between states). Thus, it does not appear that the president could directly postpone or postpone marijuana by executive order.

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So it is all downfall and tribulation for President Biden’s miraculous move to legalize or postpone marijuana? Yes and no. While the president may not be able to sign an executive order tomorrow morning and legalize or postpone the facility, he still has significant influence over his cabinet members, to the point where the paper says:

Although the president cannot unilaterally postpone or postpone a controlled substance, he has a great indirect influence on planning decisions. The president could pursue the appointment of officials to advocate a rescheduling, or he could issue executive orders directing DEA, HHS, and FDA to consider an administrative rescheduling of marijuana. The notification and comment process would be time-consuming and subject to judicial review in the event of a dispute, but could be carried out in accordance with the procedural requirements of the CSA. Alternatively, the president could work with Congress to move the date forward through an amendment to the CSA.

RELATED: GOP Legislators Pass Law To Legalize Cannabis – Will This Bring the Nation closer to Federal Reform?

This comes at a time when the Republican Party is drafting its own law to legalize cannabis and is soliciting feedback from the Democrats. We discussed the question of whether the Democrats missed their legalization opportunity with the electorate, as the Republican bill is much more sensible and may appear to a multitude of Senators on both sides of the island. In either case, the goal is to make marijuana unscheduled and legalized at the federal level, regardless of which party introduces the bill or the legislature.

RELATED: The legalization of cannabis at the federal level isn’t happening anytime soon

It doesn’t appear that President Biden is in a hurry to legalize cannabis, and Mitch McConnell has blocked all cannabis laws from reaching the Senate voting room. With Republican governors now sitting in 22 states having legal medical marijuana, now may be the time to benefit from such higher voter support, roughly 68% of the total voting population in America.

Fingers crossed, but there is real optimism now as Republicans enact law to legalize it, as cannabis stocks have risen over 10% since the announcement and many industry forecasters on Wall Street are now predicting a sudden move towards state legalization of the term.