USA Moves to Reschedule Cannabis to a Schedule III Drug
On May 15, the US Justice Department took the latest step needed to reschedule cannabis federally from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance.
President Joe Biden announced his support to reclassify cannabis in a video posted to his official X account. “This is monumental,” Biden said. “It’s an important move towards reversing long-standing inequities. … Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I’m committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”
The Biden administration has been signaling that it would try to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I — a strict classification that includes drugs like heroin — to the less-stringent Schedule III, which would for the first time acknowledge the substance’s medical benefits at the federal level.
The DEA submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Thursday afternoon, triggering a 60-day comment period that will allow the public to submit remarks regarding the rescheduling proposal before it is finalized.
