Biden Administration Set to Reschedule Marijuana as Schedule III Substance

The Biden administration will submit a recommendation to move marijuana down from its current highly restrictive scheduling classification this week, according to sources familiar with the plans. The drug would be rescheduled under Controlled Substance Act as a Schedule III substance – the same category currently given to drugs such as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine due to their accepted medical uses but potential for abuse.
The move is expected after President Joe Biden sent a letter in 2021 supporting reclassification, following a review by US Health Services Department’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA concluded that marijuana meets three criteria: lower risk of harm than other Schedule I or II substances; accepted medical use; and low to moderate physical dependence.
Rescheduling has the support from politicians on both sides, with Democrat Rep Earl Blumenauer calling it “one step closer to ending the failed war on drugs”. The decision will make marijuana subjected less stringent controls in line with Schedule III items such as prescription painkillers containing codeine and anabolic steroids.
The move could open up more avenues for research, ease criminal consequences of possession or sale, potentially allow cannabis businesses to bank freely without the threat of federal prosecution, and remove a 40-year tax law that currently disallows credits and deductions from income generated by sales of Schedule I and II substances.
However, it won’t resolve issues surrounding conflicts between state and federal laws on marijuana use as manufacture, distribution or possession would still be considered criminal offences under Federal legislation – a matter to be resolved in future policy developments rather than through the rescheduling process itself.