The Real Politics of Weed Going Schedule III

The Real Politics of Weed Going Schedule III

When libertarian vs liberal priorities meet: Biden wants to get re-elected, and retrieve much of youth vote he has lost. So suddenly, like a miracle, his administration is finally changing the scheduling of marijuana to Schedule III, just in time for November. According to PIX 11 TV:

The Justice Department took a major step this week, formally moving to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The process isn’t finalized yet, but if approved, the plan would drop marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies substances into five categories, denoted with Roman numerals, based on how likely they are to be abused. Schedule I drugs are those with the highest potential to create dependency issues and are considered to have “no currently accepted medical use.”

As it stands, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy. The new rule under consideration would move it down two levels to Schedule III, below Schedule II drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, oxycodone and others.

Other Schedule III drugs include ketamine, testosterone and Tylenol with codeine. Schedule IV drugs like Xanax, Valium and Ambien are considered even less risky, as are Schedule V drugs like cough medicine and several prescription medications.

What would change if marijuana is officially reclassified?

Rescheduling does not decriminalize marijuana or make it legal for recreational use on the federal level.

Even if marijuana is rescheduled, it would still be a controlled substance that’s subject to federal rules and regulations.

Instead, the change would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. Becoming a Schedule III drug would make it easier for research to be done on marijuana as well….Read More

 

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