Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday that the Department of Justice is reclassifying FDA-approved and state-licensed marijuana as a lower-risk drug, in addition to planning a fast-tracked hearing to “fully reschedule marijuana.”
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche wrote in a post on X.
Forty states have legalized medical marijuana. But marijuana was still scheduled as a Schedule I drug on the federal level, which meant the Drug Enforcement Administration considered the drug to have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use. As a Schedule III drug, marijuana will be determined as possessing moderate to low risk for abuse and dependence, according to the DEA.
The reclassification could reshape the marijuana industry, facilitate marijuana research and lessen criminal penalties related to the substance. It is also expected to make it easier for cannabis-related companies to operate and secure funding.
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The move follows years of efforts toward the drug’s possible reclassification. In 2022, President Joe Biden instructed Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Agency to examine how marijuana was scheduled, and in 2023, HHS recommended that marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug.
In December, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to expedite marijuana’s rescheduling process.
The move does not legalize marijuana across the country. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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