With the 2024 Presidential election looming, the Biden administration has taken a significant step towards altering the legal status of marijuana.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Biden's administration requested the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substance Act.
This development was confirmed by a DEA spokesperson, who revealed to Bloomberg that the department had received a letter from HHS Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Anne Milgram. The letter contained the request for reclassification, prompting the DEA to initiate its review of the drug's status.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the recommendation on Wednesday, stating, "The President asked the Secretary of the HHS and also the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review how marijuana is scheduled." She emphasized the independence of the administrative process, which she said would be "led by HHS and DOJ, it is going to be very much guided by evidence."
Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, a category that includes substances with "no currently accepted medical use, and a high potential for abuse." This places marijuana in the same legal category as heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and ecstasy.
If reclassified to Schedule III, marijuana would be defined as a drug "with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence," and would be grouped with substances such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone.
Jean-Pierre further stated that President Biden "has always supported the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes... consistent with medical and scientific evidence." She reiterated the importance of the review, emphasizing that it would be guided by evidence.
President Biden has previously admitted to past mistakes regarding his stance on cannabis. In 2019, he stated, "I haven't always been right. I know we haven't always gotten things right [regarding incarcerations for marijuana offenses], but I've always tried."
As recently as 2010, he expressed his belief that marijuana was a gateway drug, stating, "There's a difference between sending someone to jail for a few ounces [of marijuana] and legalizing it. The punishment should fit the crime. But I think legalization is a mistake. I still believe [marijuana] is a gateway drug."
During his tenure as a Senator in the 1980s and 1990s, Biden sponsored several pieces of legislation that were tough on drugs and drug users. In a controversial move in March 2021, the administration asked all staffers to complete a background check form and subsequently dismissed anyone who admitted to having used marijuana, regardless of its legal status in their state.
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