DEA’s Move To Reclassify Cannabis Seen As ‘Significant,’ But Fails To Resolve State-Federal Conflict
For the first time ever, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reportedly called for ‘botanical cannabis’ to be reclassified under federal law.
The DEA’s decision, as reported Tuesday by the Associated Press, to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the US Controlled Substances Act comes eight months after the Department of Health and Human Services requested the DEA make changes to cannabis’ onerous classification, which put it in a category with heroin and meth. Cannabis has remained classified as a Schedule I controlled substance since 1970.
The DEA’s determination must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, according to the AP.
Commenting on the decision, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “It is significant for these federal agencies, and the DEA and FDA in particular, to acknowledge publicly for the first time what many patients and advocates have known for decades: that cannabis is a safe and effective therapeutic agent for tens of millions of Americans.”
NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws formed in 1970, is the oldest cannabis legalization advocacy group in the U.S.
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