The federal government is moving towards marijuana reclassification

Marijuana is less harmful and has a lower potential for abuse than initially thought, and should be removed from the federal government’s most restrictive category of drugs, according to a newly published review from FDA researchers. Somewhere, Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg are sharing a celebratory joint.

Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I substance, alongside other drugs considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use (like meth, heroin, and LSD). But in 2022, the US government began considering whether to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance instead.

As part of that review, FDA researchers investigated the existing scientific and medical evidence regarding marijuana, and found three main data points to support the drug’s reclassification:

1. Marijuana doesn’t seem to elicit serious outcomes compared to other Schedule I drugs, even in products with high levels of THC (the main psychoactive ingredient).
2. “Some credible level of scientific support” exists for using marijuana as a therapeutic treatment.
3. Marijuana withdrawal is less serious than other hard drugs or alcohol, and more similar to that of tobacco.

The potential impact: While reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III wouldn’t affect the drug’s illegal status on a federal level, doing so would open up a wide range of new opportunities for businesses across America.

• Marijuana companies could write off normal business expenses, saving the industry hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
• The marijuana industry could finally have access to banking services and institutional investment, instead of being banned due to Schedule I status.
• US scientists could study the effects of marijuana on human patients, expanding on current – but incomplete – research that indicates some health benefits alongside risks like anxiety and dependence.

👀 Looking ahead… All eyes are now on the DEA, which has the ultimate authority on scheduling substances. The agency is expected to render its decision on marijuana rescheduling in the coming months.