The Federal Government has a proposal to reschedule marijuana, categorizing it as a less dangerous drug while acknowledging its medicinal applications. Five sources, speaking under the condition of anonymity, have confirmed to the Associated Press that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving to change marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug through a regulatory rule-making process.

Other Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD, under a status that restricts access and research. As more states move towards legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use, its Schedule I classification contradicts these shifts in public opinion and policy. Additionally, the legal cannabis industry has shown great economic potential, including job creation and tax revenue, but the Schedule I status hinders the growth, regulation, and even access to banking for the industry.

The government intends to move cannabis to Schedule III, where it will be categorized alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids. 

This change follows a recommendation from the Health and Human Services Department. 

Almost a year ago, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra posted on X/Twitter:

I can now share that, following the data and science, @HHSGov has responded to @POTUS’ directive to me for the Department to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA. 

We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously.

I can now share that, following the data and science, @HHSGov has responded to @POTUS’ directive to me for the Department to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA.

We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously. pic.twitter.com/p84x8p07sP

— Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) August 30, 2023

Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) noted in a statement that HHS had recommended that marijuana be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance. In the months since the recommendation was made, lawmakers have pushed the DEA to make the rule change.

The DEA’s acting chief of congressional affairs, Michael Miller, told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in an April 16 letter that the agency is:

...[carefully following] procedures that Congress set forth in the Controlled Substances Act, including an opportunity for a public comment period and a hearing.

Sen. Warren and 20 other Democrats responded in a letter to the DEA last Wednesday. 

The letter said:

Right now, the Administration has the opportunity to resolve more than 50 years of failed, racially discriminatory marijuana policy. While we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana’s misguided placement in Schedule I. We are also hopeful that the DEA will not make the unprecedented choice to disagree with HHS’s medical finding that a drug does not belong in Schedule I.

The AP's sources confirmed that the rule change will be submitted and undergo a comment period after it is cleared by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

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