US moves to re-classify marijuana as less dangerous drug

Late last week, the Justice Department and DEA issued an order to officially begin the process of reclassifying marijuana on a federal level, moving it into a new category alongside less dangerous drugs.

How we(ed) got here

Since 1970, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, meaning it’s considered to have no accepted medical use and a high risk of dependence. But that classification has been under review in recent years.

• In 2022, the federal government began weighing whether marijuana should instead fall under Schedule III, a category for drugs with moderate-to-low risk of dependence.
• FDA officials ultimately found marijuana doesn’t pose the same level of risk as other Schedule I drugs and does show some potential medical benefits.

The potential impact

Reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III won’t make the drug federally legal, or change existing sentences for past convictions. But it would open the door for major shifts in how the industry operates:

• Marijuana companies would be able to write off normal business expenses, saving hundreds of millions annually.
• The industry would gain broader access to banking services and institutional investment, which have largely been off-limits under the Schedule I classification.
• Researchers would face fewer barriers while studying marijuana’s effects, expanding on existing (but still incomplete) data around both potential risks and health benefits.

Zoom out: Nearly 9 in 10 Americans (88%) support legalizing marijuana in some form, including ~57% who back both medical and recreational use, per the latest Pew Research polling.