Top Congressional Democrats Push DEA To ‘Swiftly’ Reschedule Marijuana And ‘Continue To Assess’ Full Legalization

The top Democrats on key House committees are calling for “swift action” from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule marijuana—and they want federal agencies to “continue to assess” whether further reform, including full descheduling of cannabis, “may be appropriate.”

In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) stressed that the scientific review directed by the Biden administration demonstrated that cannabis has “less potential for abuse than other drugs” and “accepted medical use in treatment.”

The findings “correspond” with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice Department recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), they said.

“We value the Department of Justice’s steadfast commitment to prevent the misuse and diversion of controlled substances that pose a threat to public health,” the lawmakers wrote. “Amidst a devastating opioid and overdose crisis, it is imperative that law enforcement and public health agencies focus efforts on the biggest threats to Americans.”

“When Congress passed the CSA, it recognized that our scientific and medical understanding is constantly evolving and granted the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS important responsibilities in ensuring that the law reflects this knowledge. We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts in initiating this review, conducting a thorough scientific and medical analysis, and engaging in the rulemaking process.”

Today, I joined @FrankPallone in a letter supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed rule to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III.

Looking forward, we also urge the DOJ and HHS to assess whether further rescheduling or descheduling may be appropriate.…

— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) October 1, 2024

To that end, they said DEA should “swiftly complete this process and transfer marijuana to schedule III.”

But beyond the modest rescheduling proposal, the lawmakers said HHS and DEA should “continue to assess whether schedule IV, schedule V, or descheduling may be appropriate.”

Descheduling would effectively legalize marijuana, in line with what would be accomplished under a prior House-passed bill—the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—that Nadler sponsored.

NEW: @FrankPallone & @RepJerryNadler write in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s proposal to reschedule marijuana to schedule III.
 
The Democrats also called for further assessment of whether lower scheduling or descheduling may be appropriate. https://t.co/WlXrOBkHye

— Energy & Commerce Democrats (@EnergyCommerce) October 1, 2024

While the legislators are calling for swift action on rescheduling, that will not happen until after the November election, as DEA set an administrative hearing on the proposal for December 2 to gather additional input from experts and stakeholders before potentially finalizing the rule.

This also comes as cannabis policy issues have become a bigger focal point in election politics for both major parties’ presidential nominees.

Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, took some by surprise by recently coming out in favor of rescheduling, as well as cannabis industry banking access and a Florida marijuana legalization ballot initiative.

And after weeks of silence on the issue since becoming the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala reiterated her support for federal legalization in an interview that was released on Monday.

While Harris has advocated for cannabis legalization, President Joe Biden has maintained opposition to that broader reform despite the fact that the vast majority of voters in his party support it, albeit while initiating a review into marijuana’s scheduling status and issuing mass pardons to people who committed possession offenses.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

Nevertheless, Harris has a more defined position on cannabis issues than does Trump heading into November’s election. While critics, including Trump, have been quick to point to Harris’s prosecutorial record on marijuana, she also sponsored a comprehensive legalization bill in the Senate and called for legalization as recently as March during a closed-door meeting with cannabis pardon recipients.

Meanwhile, Trump also recently went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana, claiming that she put “thousands and thousands of Black people in jail” for cannabis offenses—but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.

Trump’s line of attack, while misleading, was nonetheless notable in the sense that the GOP presidential nominee implied that he disagrees with criminalizing people over marijuana and is moving to leverage the idea that Harris played a role in racially disproportionate mass incarceration.

As president, Trump largely stayed true to his position that marijuana laws should be handled at the state-level, with no major crackdown on cannabis programs as some feared after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era federal enforcement guidance. In fact, Trump criticized the top DOJ official and suggested the move should be reversed.

While he was largely silent on the issue of legalization, he did tentatively endorse a bipartisan bill to codify federal policy respecting states’ rights to legalize.

That said, on several occasions he released signing statements on spending legislation stipulating that he reserved the right to ignore a long-standing rider that prohibits the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs.

Before Biden bowed out of the race, his campaign made much of the president’s mass cannabis pardons and rescheduling push, drawing a contrast with the Trump administration’s record.

Read the congressional letter to the attorney general and DEA head on marijuana rescheduling below: 

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

New Rule For Federal Loan Program Adds Restrictions For Companies That Work With Marijuana Businesses