Cannabis Reform 2024: The Year Of All Talk And No Action
In 2024, the cannabis landscape in the United States experienced some developments, though federal legalization or removal from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) did not occur under the Biden administration, though that was promised to voters on a regular basis.
“No one should be in jail for cannabis possession” was the refrain repeated by President Joe Biden, beginning with his March 2024 State of the Union — the first time marijuana was ever mentioned in such an illustrious political setting — all the way up to his mid-December 2024 commutation of 1500 people including a relatively small number of cannabis offenders.
Federal Rescheduling? Delay And More Delay
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) initiated a review to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance under the CSA. This move, following August 2023 Biden-directed recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services, could have represented a historic shift in federal cannabis policy. But alas, it was never …