The cannabis industry and news outlets have been alive with talk about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) recent recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reschedule the cannabis plant from its Schedule I status to that of a Schedule III status. With over 38 states having some type of cannabis program (i.e., medical, recreational, or low THC), it would seem that the majority of the US would find the move from a Schedule I to a Schedule III status to be favorable. Cannabis has had a long and complex history, let's look at what been done in the past and what this change in Schedule status could mean for the cannabis consumer.
Prior to the 1930s cannabis was commonly consumed as a medicine and in the late 19th century gained popularity for use in medicinal products1. However, in 1970 the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act was voted into place that firmly classified the cannabis plant in the Schedule I status1. According to the DEA, 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 peyote2. Over the years, research and anecdotal evidence has shown that cannabis doesn't quite fall into the definition of a Schedule I drug as it currently stands. There has been previous attempts to change this legislation with the HHS sending recommendations to the DEA to remove cannabis from its Schedule I status3. But each of the previous four times, the DEA determined through their testing that cannabis should not be removed from Schedule 1 status3.
Even though this recommendation has not been successful in the past, the continued attempts by the HHS is encouraging to the cannabis consumer. There is no doubt that the removal of cannabis from its Schedule I status could be helpful in a myriad of ways. Some of the benefits that could come from cannabis not having a Schedule I status is: more research becoming available, people's increased ability to talk with their providers about cannabis, more access to cannabis as a medicine, cannabis business' having better access to the banking industry, and potentially cannabis being covered by insurance. There would eventually be more education related to cannabis that could be easily accessed by anyone, there truly are a lot of benefits that could come with cannabis no longer a Schedule I drug. But simply because the industry is eager to see cannabis removed from Schedule I status, doesn't mean everyone is excited for cannabis to be moved to a Schedule III status. In fact, there are some that would say that the move from a Schedule I to a Schedule III status is the wrong one.
The DEA's definition of a Schedule III drug is: 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, testosterone2. While reading over the many posts from people working directly in the cannabis industry, there seems to be a general lack of excitement to see cannabis potentially lumped together with examples of medicines that have negative stigmas surrounding them. I read several posts that expressed concerns that if cannabis was moved to a Schedule III status (as opposed to a Schedule IV or de-scheduled entirely) that would allow for big businesses to muscle into the cannabis industry and with their greater amounts of money/clout, to push out the local cannabis growers, producers and manufacturers. From my perspective as a nurse (whose thoughts and opinions are solely my own), it would seem that cannabis would benefit from remaining in a Schedule IV or V status so that it can continue to have oversight by the FDA. Cannabis has amazing potential to be utilized in a variety of situations, both medicinal and recreational alike, but if it's going to be marketed as a medicine I believe there should be oversight like it is a medicine. There are a lot of factors that go into removing cannabis from the Schedule I status. What are your thoughts on whether cannabis should be re-scheduled to another class? Or do you believe that cannabis should be de-scheduled entirely? I would love to hear your thoughts about this subject.
References
1. Marijuana timeline | busted - america’s war on marijuana | frontline (no date) PBS. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
2. Drug scheduling (no date) DEA. Available at: https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling#:~:text=Schedule%20I%20drugs%2C%20substances%2C%20or,)%2C%20methaqualone%2C%20and%20peyote. (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
3. Norml (2023) Report: Leaked HHS letter calls upon DEA to reschedule cannabis, NORML. Available at: https://norml.org/blog/2023/08/30/report-leaked-hhs-letter-calls-upon-dea-to-reschedule-cannabis/ (Accessed: 31 August 2023).
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