Check my schedule… The US Department of Health and Human Services recommended moving marijuana to a lower federal risk category. Currently, the US gov’t considers it a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has “no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” That puts cannabis in the same category as heroin and ecstasy, in a class considered riskier than cocaine and fentanyl. The HHS is recommending the DEA knock it down to Schedule 3, lining it up with prescribable drugs that are considered less dangerous, like ketamine.
Lit: Cannabis stocks were fired up on the news. Canopy Growth closed yesterday up 26%, while Curaleaf rose 18% and Canadian canna-biz leader Tilray was up 11%.
More smoke than substance… Rescheduling, if the DEA approves it, would be more of a symbolic win for cannabis companies than a practical one. The biggest impact for businesses would be that they could get some federal tax breaks that are off limits right now because of cannabis’s Schedule 1 status. The change would also make it easier for researchers to get approval to conduct cannabis studies. Some advocates argue it’s not enough:
De- not Re-: Lawmakers like Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado say cannabis shouldn’t be ranked in the DEA’s five “schedule” categories at all, which would put it on par with alcohol and nicotine.
Mismatch: Others call out that rescheduling still doesn’t line up cannabis’s (illegal) federal status with state laws. Cannabis is legal for recreational use in 23 states and for medical use in 38.
Law lags behind public perception… Nearly 9 in 10 Americans support medical or recreational legalization. Marijuana is the most commonly used federally illegal drug — with about 1 in 5 Americans partaking at least once in 2019. President Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted with marijuana possession in October, saying his admin would reconsider the drug’s scheduling. But legalization is gridlocked in Congress, where it has some (but not enough) bipartisan support.