Senate Democrats want to deschedule marijuana as Biden moves to reschedule

The Biden Administration wants to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The proposed change will need to go through a formal rulemaking process which includes interagency reviews, public input and regulatory analysis. 

According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, including heroin, LSD and ecstasy. Schedule III drugs are those with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence including ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone

The White House said this effort is a step toward fulfilling a pledge President Biden made during his campaign. 

“He said no American who only possesses marijuana should go to jail. It is affecting communities across the country, including communities of color,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.  

Democratic lawmakers in the Senate are looking to go even further. Sens. Schumer, D-N.Y., Booker, D-N.J., and Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a 277 page overhaul of the nation’s marijuana policy. 

“It’s time for Congress to wake up to the times and do its part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have wished for,” said Sen. Schumer. “It’s past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and to catch up with the science.”

The bill addresses public health and safety, taxation, research, entrepreneurship and what the sponsors describe as “restorative justice”.  

The bill would:

• Remove marijuana from the controlled substances list
• Expunge the criminal records of Americans with non-violent marijuana offenses
• Establish the Center for Cannabis Products to regulate the cannabis industry including production, labeling, distribution, and sales 
• Require the FDA to create standards for labeling potency, doses, servings, place of manufacture, and directions for use
• Create an excise tax on cannabis sales, opening up the industry to banks, from which it’s currently blocked. 

“Our bill’s about individual freedom and basic fairness. We cannot tolerate any longer the tragedy of a young person getting arrested because they have a small amount of marijuana in their pocket,” Schumer said. “For years, that’s all it took. Getting caught with a little bit of marijuana for you to get saddled with a serious criminal record that prevented a person from getting a good job, buying a good home, getting ahead in life.”

“When you drive large portions of a population into poverty because of those criminal convictions, when you see that our precious law enforcement resources are being used to go after nonviolent marijuana users,” Sen. Booker said. “You see this is a waste of law enforcement resources that is hurting our communities.”

This bill goes beyond other proposals like the Safe Banking Act which would open the banking industry to marijuana distributors. That bill has 117 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act does not appear to have as much support. 

“I think there’s gonna be a lot of resistance on our side to that,”  Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. told SAN. 

Senator J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said marijuana policy needs to be better balanced. 

“When I talk to families back home in Ohio, is, you know, they don’t want somebody arrested or have their life ruined for having a small amount of pot. They also would like to be able to take their kids to a public park without smelling like weed everywhere,” Sen. Vance said.  “I think that we have to do a better job of balancing private liberties with the public’s ability to enjoy public spaces without it being infected by the smell of marijuana.”

As per the proposed rule, it’s unclear exactly how long it would take to be approved, but federal rules changes can sometimes take years.