Can Obamachange federal cannabis law before he leaves office?
THERE ARE some helpful things he could do, but weed doesn’t seem to be a priority and Obama is likely out of time.
The president cannot end prohibition directly with an executive order. Instead, Barack Obama could advise the US Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), or order that cannabis be dropped from Schedule I to a less restrictive status. He could effect these changes indirectly, through his control over various administrative agencies.
The CSA gives the Attorney General and HHS authority to remove a substance, like pot, from a given schedule. For purposes of the CSA, the Attorney General delegates this power to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and HHS delegates to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). That probably reads like alphabet soup, but the point is the president has the power to fire the Attorney General and DEA and FDA bosses, for any reason at all.
At this point, there is not enough time for Obama to kick-start the re- or descheduling process; it’s time-consuming and tedious. Also, the department bosses will all be looking for new jobs on January 20 anyway, when Trump installs his toadies, so a removal threat would be moot.