Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday will recommend loosening restrictions on marijuana in what would be a historic shift in federal drug policy, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The measure, if enacted, would not legalize marijuana at the federal level but could broaden access to the drug for medicinal use and boost cannabis industries in states where it is legal. The move may also prove to be a political win for President Biden, who is campaigning for reelection and has sought to ameliorate racial and criminal justice inequities wrought by the nation’s long war on drugs.
The Justice Department was scheduled to submit the formal recommendation to the White House on Tuesday. It follows the Drug Enforcement Administration’s approval of the Department of Health and Human Services recommendation that marijuana be reclassified.
I think it’s great that research can be expanded so that proper dosages for pain management can be determined (in addition to other medical uses). I would prefer cannabis for pain management as opposed to opioids.
And hopefully stop incarcerating smalltime offenders for having small quantities, even if it is only reduced to a class 3. It would still be illegal (if not for medicinal purposes) but hopefully would be a lesser offense.
Why? The DEA defines schedule 1 drugs as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The DEA defines schedule 3 drugs as, “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” I think it is far more accurate to place marijuana in the schedule 3 grouping than schedule 1.
Marijuana has a variety of helpful medical uses, particularly for pain management with conditions that are associated with nausea and/or weight loss, such as chemotherapy. The potential for physical harm and societal harm is also notably lower than other typical schedule 1/2 drugs, as well as a variety of non-DEA restricted drugs.
I wish they’d do something about smoking while driving, especially with kids in the car. H says he about gets high every morning & afternoon unloading & loading cars at his elementary school. It seems like almost every car stinks as they drive by around my town. That much smoke can’t be good for all those kids.
Because it is step one to federal legalization. To @ClassicMom98 's point, almost every morning that I drive to work with the windows open I can smell marijuana from vehicles in front of me…before 8am.
I agree. While I’m not for War on Drugs level policing for marijuana at all, I also think that we don’t know enough about the link between cannabis use and mental illness.
Classifying as schedule 3 does not mean the drug has zero known risks. It instead means the moderate/low potential for dependence and may have non-zero potential medical uses. An example is anabolic steroids, which are currently classified as schedule 3. Steroids obviously are not zero risk, yet they also have potential medical uses such as for muscle wasting or diseases where body does not naturally produce adequate testosterone. Steroids can be medically prescribed for such conditions, with some extra steps beyond standard prescription medication.
According to a family member who partakes, she gets a better result from smoking than from gummies. I wasn’t happy because this person already has severe lung issues from tobacco, but not my call. I don’t like the smell of anything smoked, whether pot, tobacco, vapes, or anything else.
The reference (#2 in the CDC link, which itself is 4 yrs old) is 8 years old. Would like to see newer data and clarification if they found correlation vs. causation for more than short term drug effect.
That said, it is unlikely that the feds will declassify marijuana. It will likely stay at the state level for the foreseeable future.
My concern is simply that we don’t know the impact of marijuana on young adult minds. I have no problem with medical uses but I think we should try to fully understand any drug before we make it available.
That is more recent, thanks, though it’s more of a “pop psych” article than a juried journal article. That said, the biggest concerns there seem to be more so for the significant drug abuser (using/smoking multiple times a day) than the occasional recreational user. And again, the reduction to a class III drug doesn’t change the fact that it’s not legal recreationally on a federal level. The medical benefits for pain management, anorexia- related issues, some intractable seizures, etc has been seen, and should be more readily available for those in true need.
You can’t control the dosage of a gummy or edible - speaking for me, I find gummies and edibles too strong. I don’t mind sublingual (oil) drops because I can control the dosage. Cannabis for pain was a lifesaver during the height of my piriformis syndrome - if you have an interest in learning about cannabis research worldwide - look up Sanjay Gupta’s documentary Weed. https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html
I use gummies for sleep from time to time. I buy them at a NYS-licensed dispensary and I cut them in half to see if half will do the job. It usually does.
I’ve cut gummies as well - The problem with cutting a gummy in half is like a prescription medication there’s no concrete way to ensure the dosage.
My brother was an undercover narcotics cop in the Detroit area for more than half his career. The massive waste of dollars and manpower putting him and his team in harm’s way to bust MJ users/dealers/rings to little overall effect really angered him. Today he is retired but is a co-owner of a large weed farm in Canada. He never saw weed as the problem and figures he might as well profit from it now where it’s legal.
Side note: I went to college in Ann Arbor in the 70s where weed was just a $5 fine, grown in the urinals in my dorm, and there was an annual Hash Bash on the diag. The cops simply directed traffic. Good times.
Given the definitions of the schedules (see https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling ), where would a newly discovered recreational drug be put in the schedules if it had characteristics similar to alcohol? or tobacco?
Alcohol and tobacco are not scheduled as they are not medications. What “newly discovered recreational drug” are you considering? One like Nitrous oxide?