Hickenlooper, Bipartisan Colleagues Push DEA to Swiftly Reschedule Marijuana

"It is time for the DEA to make good on the President's Commitments"

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and 21 of his congressional colleagues sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Drug Enforcement Administration urging the agency to remove marijuana from the agency's Schedule I list of controlled substances.

"We urge you to promptly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act," wrote the lawmakers. "We are now nearing eight months since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III… It is time for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to act."

According to HHS, marijuana use is associated with fewer adverse outcomes than alcohol, yet it remains in the most restrictive schedule of the CSA, creating severe penalties for marijuana users and businesses.

The 2023 HHS recommendation to move marijuana to a less restrictive DEA schedule followed an October 2022 directive from President Biden requiring HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review the current scheduling of the drug. Prior to this review, the last review of marijuana scheduling occurred in 2016, when HHS ultimately recommended keeping marijuana under Schedule I. HHS has since identified credible scientific support for marijuana's medical uses and has reversed its position. The medical science, as well as developments in state law and international law, support removing marijuana from Schedule I.

The letter comes after Hickenlooper urged the DEA to remove marijuana from Schedule I in January. Last August, Hickenlooper reintroduced his PREPARE Act, which would direct the federal government to develop a regulatory framework for when marijuana is legalized federally.

Text of the letter is available HERE and below:

Dear Attorney General Garland and Administrator Milgram:

We urge you to promptly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In recent months, we have sent you multiple letters explaining the importance of doing so. We are now nearing eight months since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III - and 18 months since President Biden directed HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to begin the process of reviewing marijuana's scheduling. It is time for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to act.

Though marijuana is widely used and, according to HHS, is associated with fewer adverse outcomes than alcohol, it remains in the most restrictive schedule of the CSA. This placement produces a cascade of severe penalties for marijuana users and businesses, including for criminal records, immigration statuses, employment, taxation, health care, public housing, social services, and more. As explained in our prior letters, while a move to Schedule III would be a meaningful improvement, the only way to remedy the most concerning consequences of marijuana prohibition is to deschedule marijuana altogether.

As President Biden recently highlighted, this "Administration has taken historic steps to end America's failed approach to marijuana" - including by asking HHS and DOJ to "formally review[] how marijuana is scheduled under Federal law." The DEA now has the power to determine whether it will continue the failed approach of keeping marijuana in Schedule I.

On August 29, 2023, HHS recommended that the DEA move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The DEA has said that it is now conducting "an administrative review of the scheduling of marijuana," a process that entails considering HHS's recommendation. Although some at the DEA have indicated that the agency's review of an HHS scheduling recommendation often takes up to six months, almost eight months have now passed since the DEA received HHS's recommendation. While we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana's misguided placement in Schedule I. The longer marijuana remains scheduled in the CSA, the longer our communities face senselessly severe penalties and the longer the marijuana laws of the majority of U.S. states remain in conflict with federal law. Right now, the Administration has the opportunity to resolve more than 50 years of failed, racially discriminatory marijuana policy.

We trust that the DEA is working as quickly as possible toward a decision on how marijuana is scheduled, as Vice President Kamala Harris recently reassured stakeholders. We are also hopeful that the DEA will not make the unprecedented choice to disagree with HHS's medical finding that a drug does not belong in Schedule I. Finally, we applaud President Biden for recently raising this issue during his State of the Union address for the first time during his presidency. It is time for the DEA to make good on the President's commitments. April 2024 - proclaimed "Second Chance Month" - is a prime opportunity to finally begin remedying the harms of marijuana's scheduling by removing marijuana from Schedule I. We look forward to your prompt action and appreciate your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

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