Cannabis advocates, executives and investors are celebrating the Drug Enforcement Administration’s reported decision this week to reclassify marijuana under federal drug laws, a development that spurred rejoicing from coast to coast and a spike in cannabis stock prices. The celebrations were tempered, however, by the reality that the decision falls short of the full marijuana legalization that determined activists have been seeking for decades.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the DEA had decided to follow a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), citing five unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Under the recommendation, marijuana will be changed from Schedule I of the CSA, the most strict classification intended for drugs with no medical value and a high potential for abuse, to Schedule III, a group including the drugs Tylenol with codeine and testosterone.
The groundbreaking decision to reschedule cannabis will facilitate research into the medicinal benefits of the plant that could lead to new treatments for an unknown number of physical and mental health conditions. As a Schedule I drug, cannabis research was subjected to the strictest regulatory conditions under federal law, hampering studies that could result in meaningful medical advances.
Rescheduling cannabis under federal drug laws will also have significant impacts on the regulated cannabis industry. Perhaps most significantly, the change will ease access to banking services and free licensed cannabis companies from IRS rule 280e, which denies most standard business deductions to companies selling Schedule I substances.
Pot Advocates Hail DEA Decision
After the DEA decision to reschedule cannabis was reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday, the move was hailed by policymakers, cannabis activists and entrepreneurs as an historic milestone in U.S. drug policy reform. In Colorado, one of …
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Author: A.J. Herrington / High Times
