Reschedule marijuana? Deschedule? Legalize weed? Main takeaways on Biden's cannabis news
WASHINGTON — Cannabis policy in the United States is a mess.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration was preparing to formally recommend rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III drug. And just 24 hours later, three leading Democratic senators announced plans to reintroduce the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a comprehensive bill that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana.
"Reclassifying cannabis is necessary and it's a long overdue step. But it is not the end of the story. It's not all we need to do," said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer at a press conference on Wednesday. "It's time for Congress to wake up to the times and do its part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have wished for. It's past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and catch up with science."
Meanwhile, 53% of Americans live in states where weed is already legal for adult use, and 75% live in states with at least medical marijuana laws. That doesn't even include the fact that, under a 2018 hemp bill, even corner convenience stores can carry and sell synthetic cannabinoids, such as Delta 8, and any product that contains less than 0.3% THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
If it seems like a lot to comprehend, you're not alone.
Trying to navigate the legal weed landscape in 2024 is tricky. But with rescheduling on the docket and descheduling up for debate, here's what you need to know.
More: Why legal weed advocates aren't sold on Biden, DEA marijuana rescheduling
So, the DEA is rescheduling marijuana. What does that mean for me?
In short? Not much - especially in New Jersey.
Marijuana is still going to remain illegal at the federal level but, with 24 states now legalizing cannabis for adult use, the places where this is really an issue are becoming more rare.
For example, you still can't light a joint in a national park. And those with a marijuana conviction could still be disqualified from federal housing, food benefits and face deportation, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for U.S. drug policy reform.
And it's still a felony to transport drugs across state lines, even if you're traveling between two states with legal weed laws, like New Jersey and New York.
More: What to know about the federal government's big changes to marijuana rules coming soon
Then why bother rescheduling marijuana at all?
It's a pretty huge first step, even if it's mostly symbolic.
Rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III drug is a monumental moment in U.S. drug policy history. Cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I drug - with no medicinal value and a high potential for addiction - for over 50 years, and that status served as the basis for decades of the War on Drugs.
President Joe Biden himself is considered by critics as an architect of that decades-long campaign; as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden authored or sponsored laws that instituted mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug crimes, including possession.
Biden called for rescheduling in 2022 and has repeatedly said that no one should be jailed just for marijuana possession or use.
That doesn't mean rescheduling isn't without benefits. Cannabis businesses will no longer fall under Section 280E of IRS tax code, which prohibits businesses involved in the "trafficking" of Schedule I and Schedule II substances from deducting "ordinary and necessary" business expenses from their taxes. That could result in lower prices for consumers and, at the least, make it easier for cannabis entrepreneurs to open and stay in business.
Schedule III also, technically, allows for the medical prescription of cannabis - like other Schedule III drugs, such as ketamine, testosterone, anabolic steroids or Tylenol with codeine.
The only problem? The Food and Drug Administration hasn't actually approved cannabis for medical use - at least, not yet.
More: Biden administration plans to drastically change federal rules on marijuana
What's the difference between rescheduling and descheduling?
Schedule I drugs, like ecestasy, heroin and LSD, are determined to have no medicinal value with a high potential for addiction. Marijuana is getting rescheduled as a Schedule III drug, which means it has medicinal value witih a low to moderate potential for addiction.
Marijuana legalization advocates are calling for the Biden Administration to instead completely remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act - to "deschedule" it entirely.
In broad terms, this would essentially decriminalize the drug on the federal level. The decision on whether to actually legalize weed would still be left up to states, but the federal government would tax and regulate it, as it does with alcohol and tobacco.
Why doesn't everyone want to legalize marijuana?
Like any other drug, cannabis use can cause short-term and long-term effects.
While the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, reports that there has never been a cannabis overdose, that doesn't mean the drug is without risk.
A February study published in the Heart Association journal reported that people who used cannabis daily had a 25% higher risk of heart attack and a 42% higher chance of stroke compared to those who didn't use the drug at all.
And according to NIDA, people who begin using cannabis at a young age can face permanent IQ loss, and long-term use has been associated with temporary paranoia, hallucinations and can exacerbate symptoms of disorders such as schizophrenia.
Smoking marijuana has a similar health impact to tobacco smoke, according to the institute, including respiratory issues such as a daily cough, phlegm and a higher risk of lung infections. But it's unclear if the drug leads to a greater risk of lung cancer.
"A drug isn’t medicine because it’s popular," said former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, the leading anti-legalization group. "The Administration's effort to push through this action in an election year could be perceived as a thinly veiled attempt to reverse polling trends with the principal targets of the pot industry, namely young people."
In recommending the Department of Health and Human Services reschedule cannabis, scientists said cannabis users could develop moderate to low physical dependence and some psychological dependence but that withdrawal symptoms are "relatively mild" compared to alcohol.
Would the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act fully legalize weed?
In short: This is the big one.
The day the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act becomes law would be one of the most important, impactful days in American history. As written, the bill would:
Deschedule cannabis, eliminating the federal prohibition in legal weed states and placing federal jurisdiction under the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
Expunge nonviolent marijuana offenses and allow those in prison to petition for resentencing.
Establish grant programs and expedited review processes for cannabis businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. (In state legal weed laws, these usually mean people with marijuana arrests or those from or opening up shop in communities with large Black and Hispanic populations with a high rate of marijuana arrests.).
Remove "unnecessary" pre-employment and random drug testing for cannabis.
Require the FDA to establish labeling production and labeling standards.
Here's the problem: Turning a bill into a law is subject to a lot of mitigating factors that, often, have nothing to do with the bill itself. And turning a bill into a law relatively unscathed - for example, protecting much of the details in the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act - is nearly impossible.
"To walk around in an institution where colleagues of mine have admitted openly about their marijuana use and, meanwhile, young people in this country - African Americans and Latinos - can't get jobs for doing the same things that presidents and senators and congresspeople have done is the height of hypocrisy," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
There's reason to be hopeful, though.
The fact that the Senate Majority Leader backs a bill to legalize weed is a big deal. And support in the Senate has grown since Booker and Wyden introduced it in 2022. Now, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act has 18 sponsors in the Senate.
But they're all Democrats, despite voters in both parties largely supporting marijuana legalization. Legalizing marijuana on the federal level is going to require a number of Republicans to buy in, along with near-unanimous support by Democrats.
"What happened yesterday (the DEA recommending rescheduling marijuana) is really a kick in the pants," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "Descheduling is a Republican's dream. This is a monument to state's rights."
USA TODAY reporters Jeanine Santucci, Michael Collins, Eduardo Cuevas, and Joel Shannon contributed to this report.
Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and basically whatever else is going on at any given moment. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Biden Administration reschedules marijuana: How does it impact NJ?
