The federal government may soon be loosening some regulations on marijuana.
An official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, according to reports. The move was initially reported by Bloomberg News.
Rachel Levine, the assistant director for health, sent a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram asking for marijuana to be lowered from the harshest classification, which is “defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” to the third tier, which includes “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” as defined by the DEA.
For comparison, fentanyl is listed as a Schedule II drug.
Last year, President Joe Biden asked cabinet members to “review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.”
“Federal law currently classifies marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances. This is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine – the drugs that are driving our overdose epidemic,” Biden noted in a statement.
While illegal at the federal level, cannabis has been approved for recreational use by 25 states, districts and territories.
Medicinal marijuana has been legalized in 43 states, districts and territories, with 11 more states allowing cannabis products with low levels of THC — the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — to be used for medicinal purposes.
Along with growing acceptance and use, officials at multiple levels have also been reviewing and, in some cases, reversing criminal penalties for marijuana use, possession and sale.
“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”