White House Endorses Marijuana Rescheduling Plan...

 

Finally, the federal government is shedding its abject ignorance relative to the safest natural medicinal plant medicine on the planet!

President Joe Biden has formally endorsed a proposal by the Justice Department to reclassify ‘botanical cannabis’ from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

By definition, Schedule I substances are criminally prohibited by federal law because they possess a “high potential for abuse“ and have “no currently accepted medical use in the United States.” Cannabis has remained classified as a Schedule I controlled substance since 1970.

The President said: “Right now, marijuana has a higher-level classification than fentanyl and methamphetamine – the two drugs driving America’s overdose epidemic. That just doesn’t add up. … Today’s announcement builds on the work we’ve already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana. I’m committed to writing those historic wrongs. You have my word.”

News that the Justice Department had concurred with a recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services to reclassify marijuana was initially reported by the Associated Press two weeks ago.

The Biden Administration initiated federal agencies to review the issue of marijuana’s Schedule I status in October 2022 – marking the first time a President has ever made the request.

NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “This recommendation validates the experiences of tens of millions of Americans, as well as tens of thousands of physicians, who have long recognized that cannabis possesses legitimate medical utility. But it still falls well short of the changes necessary to bring federal marijuana policy into the 21st century. Specifically, the proposed change fails to harmonize federal marijuana policy with the cannabis laws of most U.S. states, particularly the 24 states that have legalized its use and sale to adults.”

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