Breaking News Cannabis to Be Moved From Schedule I to Schedule III, Per AP

[Bacle]

US poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it'll remain controlled substance

In a historic shift, the U.S. moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, AP sources say.

apnews.com

Looks like the DEA is finally going to stop getting in the way of cannabis being used/acknowledged as medically useful.

I wish the GOP had been smart enough to do this in 2020, instead of letting the Dems own this change.

 

[Cherico]

US poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it'll remain controlled substance

In a historic shift, the U.S. moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, AP sources say.

apnews.com

Looks like the DEA is finally going to stop getting in the way of cannabis being used/acknowledged as medically useful.

I wish the GOP had been smart enough to do this in 2020, instead of letting the Dems own this change.

we shouldn't have made it illegal in the first place.

We killed a very useful industry that made a lot of useful products over this stupidity.

 

[IndyFront]

US poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it'll remain controlled substance

In a historic shift, the U.S. moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, AP sources say.

apnews.com

Looks like the DEA is finally going to stop getting in the way of cannabis being used/acknowledged as medically useful.

I wish the GOP had been smart enough to do this in 2020, instead of letting the Dems own this change.

Anyone who thinks this is anything other than a cynical, half-hearted attempt by Biden to win back young voters displeased with his Gaza policy is naive. Seriously if young people don't see through this I'll lose what little faith I have left in humanity.

 

[Bacle]

Anyone who thinks this is anything other than a cynical, half-hearted attempt by Biden to win back young voters displeased with his Gaza policy is naive. Seriously if young people don't see through this I'll lose what little faith I have left in humanity.

No, this is the Dems fulfilling a promise/idea they've back for a while.

I said multiple times over the years the GOP was in the Oval that if they did this, they could make a lot of headway with a lot of folks across the nation.

Now it's all for naught, like so much of the advice I've tried to give people on the Right.

Gaza is a problem in a different sphere, and this is more like a hedge against the GOP getting any control after the election over this issue.

In fact, the GOP attempting to halt the rescheduling would be the height of stupidity at this moment, as would any attempt to walk it back later.

The GOP could have done this under Trump, they had people besides me telling them stuff like this, and they didn't listen, so now the Dems get to own this in the history books.

 

[IndyFront]

No, this is the Dems fulfilling a promise/idea they've back for a while.

I said multiple times over the years the GOP was in the Oval that if they did this, they could make a lot of headway with a lot of folks across the nation.

Now it's all for naught, like so much of the advice I've tried to give people on the Right.

Gaza is a problem in a different sphere, and this is more like a hedge against the GOP getting any control after the election over this issue.

In fact, the GOP attempting to halt the rescheduling would be the height of stupidity at this moment, as would any attempt to walk it back later.

The GOP could have done this under Trump, they had people besides me telling them stuff like this, and they didn't listen, so now the Dems get to own this in the history books.

If it actually legalized or decriminalized it I would agree, but from what I've read this new action does neither of those things. Ergo - half-hearted cynical electoralism.

Trump and the GOP still have a chance to out-liberal the Dems on this issue.

 

[Bacle]

If it actually legalized or decriminalized it I would agree, but from what I've read this new action does neither of those things. Ergo - half-hearted cynical electoralism.

Trump and the GOP still have a chance to out-liberal the Dems on this issue.

Moving it off-schedule I federally is the first step, one that makes all the rest of them easier.

It also makes it easier to get CBD, now that the tiny amounts (under .01%) THC often found in over-the-count CBD products is no longer a problem.

It also makes it so that cannabis can be taxed federally, will have regulatory controls similar to anabolic steroids, removes it from all sorts of 'banned substances lists', including for most importantly banks.

he money going into federal, state, and local coffers from cannabis can now flow through the normal banking system when this change is finalized, so dispensaries and grows with no longer have to deal with massive sums of on-hand cash on premises and the fees from safely moving that cash around to pay for things.

This is going to enable a literal injection of previously untapped (at least since the early 1900s) economic opportunity into the nation, and cash-flow into the above-the-board economic system at scale.

And cannabis can be grown in fairly marginal land if you are doing it at mass scale, and can help revitalize failing farms. Industrial hemp is still damn useful for a lot of things, and this will open up new product categories to the wider market.

 

[IndyFront]

Moving it off-schedule I federally is the first step, one that makes all the rest of them easier.

It also makes it easier to get CBD, now that the tiny amounts (under .01%) THC often found in over-the-count CBD products is no longer a problem.

It also makes it so that cannabis can be taxed federally, will have regulatory controls similar to anabolic steroids, removes it from all sorts of 'banned substances lists', including for most importantly banks.

he money going into federal, state, and local coffers from cannabis can now flow through the normal banking system when this change is finalized, so dispensaries and grows with no longer have to deal with massive sums of on-hand cash on premises and the fees from safely moving that cash around to pay for things.

This is going to enable a literal injection of previously untapped (at least since the early 1900s) economic opportunity into the nation, and cash-flow into the above-the-board economic system at scale.

And cannabis can be grown in fairly marginal land if you are doing it at mass scale, and can help revitalize failing farms. Industrial hemp is still damn useful for a lot of things, and this will open up new product categories to the wider market.

Would all of this happen though? It's not like it's a guarantee that this will happen is what I'm saying. States still have a degree of autonomy from the federal gov't (as they should)

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Regardless of how one feels about drug legalization, it is pretty much an incontestable fact that marijuana meets the definition of a Schedule III substance and not a Schedule I substance. To directly quote the DEA website on drug schedules:

Schedule I

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote.​

Schedule II

Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous. Some examples of Schedule II drugs are: combination products with less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit (Vicodin), cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin), fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin​

Schedule III

Schedule III drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Schedule III drugs abuse potential is less than Schedule I and Schedule II drugs but more than Schedule IV. Some examples of Schedule III drugs are: products containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with codeine), ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone​

Schedule IV

Schedule IV drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence. Some examples of Schedule IV drugs are: Xanax, Soma, Darvon, Darvocet, Valium, Ativan, Talwin, Ambien, Tramadol​

Schedule V

Schedule V drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with lower potential for abuse than Schedule IV and consist of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics. Schedule V drugs are generally used for antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic purposes. Some examples of Schedule V drugs are: cough preparations with less than 200 milligrams of codeine or per 100 milliliters (Robitussin AC), Lomotil, Motofen, Lyrica, Parepectolin​

Honestly, even a very negative evaluation of marijuana would place it in Schedule II at the very worst -- note that drugs as dangerous as cocaine and meth are Schedule II -- and a very positive spin could plausibly argue for Schedule IV.

 

[Typhonis]

Mostly the marijuana (cannabis) ban was racially motivated against blacks and Maxican's.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

Mostly the marijuana (cannabis) ban was racially motivated against blacks and Maxican's.

well...that's a new one for me.

 

[Captain X]

Honestly the reason is just that drugs was one of the few things the Fed had any kind of jurisdiction over when there was a push to "get tough on crime."

 

[Bacle]

well...that's a new one for me.

It started as a backlash against Mexican-American families and newly 'arrived' illegal immigrants in southern 4 Corners Region/Southwest after the 1910 Mexican Revolution, because they smoked hemp cigarettes.

One source of tensions in the western and southwestern states was the influx of Mexicans to the U.S. following the 1910 Mexican Revolution.[22] Many Mexicans also smoked marijuana to relax after working in the fields.[23] It was also seen as a cheaper alternative to alcohol, due to Prohibition (which went into effect nationally in 1920).[24] Later in the 1920s, negative tensions grew between the small farms and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Shortly afterwards, the Great Depression came which increased tensions as jobs and resources became more scarce. Because of that, the passage of the initial laws is often described as a product of racism.

As well, the tinctures now fell under the new 'Pure Food and Drug Act', which was passed to keep people from passing off poisonous 'snake oil' and 'secret ingredients' that were harmful but disguised as hemp/cannabis tinctures. Cali also did it's part listing many hemp-derived products under the 'Poison Act' at the state level. Some state level 'poison control' laws banned it as far back as 1905.

Then that racist shithead Anslinger took some lies cooked up by William Randolph Hearst, and cited them to Congress as facts in part of getting cannabis effectively banned in 1937. Hearst was a lumber man and newspaper owner, and hemp was a competitor for printing-paper using wood that was his bread and butter.

 

[bullethead]

Is the schedule I status written into law? Because if it is, then this is probably going to get thrown out when the Supreme Court curbstomps Chevron Deference and restricts the power of administrative rule making.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

so....not really racist so much as 'My budiness!'

 

[Bacle]

Is the schedule I status written into law? Because if it is, then this is probably going to get thrown out when the Supreme Court curbstomps Chevron Deference and restricts the power of administrative rule making.

No, it is a DEA in-house regulatory decision, signed off on by Merrick Garland himself, which means the Chevron defense is hollow for this case and DoJ isn't going to be getting in the way.

Literally the only people likely to get in the way of this decision, or what comes from it, are the few politicians (almost exclusively R's) who still buy Reefer Madness propaganda.

The Dems have made it so the GOP can either say nothing and just not fight on cannabis issues any longer, and in the fights that come after this, or the GOP can argue for keeping cannabis on Schedule 1 and burn political capital on another pointless fight for the sake of a few tradcon prudes and fools who still believe Reefer Madness propaganda.

so....not really racist so much as 'My budiness!'

No, Hearst was very, very racist against non-whites in general, and this was just one of his more layered attacks.

 

[prinCZess]

I am not a lawyer.

That said, I am curious as to what--if any--relevance this change would have on a few ongoing firearms cases that specifically contest the bar on marijuana-users.
...Most prominently, the President's son is, I believe, actively involved in such a case (I think--could be I'm misremembering and he's not charged just...in that weird category of 'notable public figure not indicted for the thing' being used as example by people who did the thing of unequal application).

 

[Bacle]

I am not a lawyer.

That said, I am curious as to what--if any--relevance this change would have on a few ongoing firearms cases that specifically contest the bar on marijuana-users.
...Most prominently, the President's son is, I believe, actively involved in such a case (I think--could be I'm misremembering and he's not charged just...in that weird category of 'notable public figure not indicted for the thing' being used as example by people who did the thing of unequal application).

It may have a part with this, there is also a SCOTUS case around 2A/4473 restrictions based on cannabis use which might be relevant.

However, the knock-on effects of taking cannabis off Schedule I is that is no longer an automatic DQ for a lot of gov jobs and government paperwork/filings. May even help recruiting numbers if the DoD begins to treat it the same as alcohol.

 

[S'task]

Regardless of how one feels about drug legalization, it is pretty much an incontestable fact that marijuana meets the definition of a Schedule III substance and not a Schedule I substance. To directly quote the DEA website on drug schedules:



Honestly, even a very negative evaluation of marijuana would place it in Schedule II at the very worst -- note that drugs as dangerous as cocaine and meth are Schedule II -- and a very positive spin could plausibly argue for Schedule IV.

Yeah, reading over that list, Pot sticks out as being weird for being Schedule I, it definitely doesn't really fit in with those other substances which either have ridiculously high levels of physical addictiveness or strong hallucinogenic properties. I can see the case for it being II or III, but IV seems way to light given some of the long term side effects and secondary side effects known to come from smoking pot.

 

[IndyFront]

Bro this is soooooo transparent, leftists are seeing through this like plexiglass. Ol Biden is losing the youngins over Gaza because they empathize with people getting the shit bombed out of them, but Biden's like "ya'll are retarded. Ya'll are stOOpid" and now they're going over to the GOP. Posting this here because it's hilarious, not because I agree with Kyle

 

[Zachowon]

It may have a part with this, there is also a SCOTUS case around 2A/4473 restrictions based on cannabis use which might be relevant.

However, the knock-on effects of taking cannabis off Schedule I is that is no longer an automatic DQ for a lot of gov jobs and government paperwork/filings. May even help recruiting numbers if the DoD begins to treat it the same as alcohol.

Eh, it will be treated the same it has always been.
Until Weed is legalized