Not long ago, I wrote about the slight, slim chance that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II [Cannabuzz, July 6]. You remember what Schedule I is—it’s the list of drugs defined as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Along with cannabis, some of the other drugs listed as Schedule I are heroin, LSD, ecstasy, peyote, and Quaaludes. Not exactly respectable company.
Still, it wasn’t a big shock on August 11 when the DEA opted not to change the scheduling of cannabis, despite the submission of a rescheduling petition from two governors, or the fact that half of the states in the US now have medical and/or adult-use recreational cannabis programs in place. (By the way, this isn’t a new issue. There have been efforts to change the scheduling of cannabis since 1972—nearly 45 years ago.)
As I hoped they might, the DEA did slightly loosen the restrictions on medical research, and they will begin to issue grow licenses to universities in addition to the program that’s currently in place at the University of Mississippi, presently the only facility allowed to grow cannabis for research purposes. Bully to that, as the good ole U of Miss produces some Jah-awful cannabis.
Our own pro-cannabis congressman, US Representative Earl Blumenauer, weighed in, saying in part: “This decision is further evidence that the DEA doesn’t get it. Keeping marijuana at Schedule I continues an outdated, failed approach—leaving patients and marijuana businesses trapped between state and federal laws.”
The surreal stupidity of this decision is a challenge to process, although I have been trying.