GOP Congressman Seeks To Undermine Marijuana Rescheduling Process With Amendment To Fentanyl Bill

A GOP congressman has filed an amendment that’s aimed at undermining the ongoing marijuana rescheduling process.

The measure, which Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) is seeking to attach to a bill focused on fentanyl, would strip the U.S. attorney general’s authority to facilitate drug scheduling decisions and block the use of a revised scientific review standard for “currently accepted medical use” that was utilized in a still-pending cannabis rescheduling proposal.

Clyde filed the amendment ahead of a House Rules Committee on the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, or HALT Fentanyl Act. It’s currently unclear if the Republican-controlled panel will make the amendment in order for a floor vote.

While the underlying bill would also streamline research into Schedule I drugs like marijuana and certain psychedelics—in addition to increasing penalties related to fentanyl-related offenses—the congressman’s amendment would stipulate that the attorney general delegate scheduling decisions to the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), further specifying that he or she “may not delegate any such functions [of drug scheduling] to any other officer or employee of the Department of Justice.”

This appears to be responsive to criticism from anti-cannabis legislators about the process initiated under the Biden administration to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Historically, it’s been the head of DEA who signs of on a proposed rescheduling rules. In this case, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland approved it, contributing to suspicions that DEA leadership opposed the reform, despite serving as the designated “proponent” of the rule.

Last May, Clyde and Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) demanded that then-DEA Administrator Anne Milgram answer questions about why she broke “decades of precedent” by not signing a proposed marijuana rescheduling rule.

Apparently to that end, Clyde’s amendment to the HALT Act states: “Before a proposed or final rule relating to the scheduling of any substance under this Act is published in the Federal Register, such rule shall be signed by the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency and such rule shall have no force or effect unless such rule is so signed.”

That could be a problem for advocates under the current leadership of DEA under President Donald Trump. Acting Administrator Derek Maltz subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory for marijuana and believes most people living in states that have legalized cannabis will continue to obtain it from illicit sources such as cartels due to high taxes in regulated markets, for example.

The Clyde amendment also takes aim at the revised review process that led to the Schedule III recommendation for cannabis, instructing that any determination about a drug’s medical value “meets the five criteria specified in the rule” that was used to deny a petition to reschedule cannabis that was published by DEA in 1992.

In other words, the proposal would reinstate more stringent review criteria that has kept cannabis in Schedule I for decades.

In the past, the government has relied on that five-part test to determine whether a substance meets the standard for having currently accepted medical use—one that looks at a drug’s chemistry, available health data and other details. But in 2023, when considering the Biden administration’s proposed rescheduling of marijuana, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) introduced a new, simplified two-step analysis that led it to conclude cannabis belongs in Schedule III.

Last May, DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) said the prior five-part test was “impermissibly narrow” and said the two-part review “is sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU even if the drug has not been approved by FDA and would not satisfy DEA’s five-part test.”

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Meanwhile, although the HALT Act is primarily meant to escalate criminalization over fentanyl-related offenses, advocates have pointed out that the legislation—an earlier version of which cleared a congressional committee in March 2023—would also revise requirements for researchers interested in studying any Schedule I drugs.

The aim is to expedite registrations for studies into Schedule I drugs and allow for limited manufacturing by researchers, which could address some concerns surrounding how the strict classification of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances has impeded science.

Some of the research provisions of the bill are similar to those contained in a marijuana-focused measure that then-President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022, giving the U.S. attorney general 60 days to either approve a given application or request supplemental information from a prospective research applicant. It also creates a more efficient pathway for researchers who request larger quantities of cannabis.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

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