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It’s pretty absurd to equate marijuana with drugs like heroin and LSD, but the DEA has been doing that for more than 50 years courtesy of the “Schedule I” designation bestowed upon it. It took longer than it should have, but it would appear reason has finally prevailed.
In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act before it was signed by Richard Nixon, who harnessed it as an invaluable weapon in the “war on drugs” that he declared in a speech the following summer.
The statute allowed the federal government to regulate the wide variety of mind-altering substances that had managed to whip America into a moral frenzy in the decades leading up to its enactment—including marijuana.
The Controlled Substances Act served as the catalyst for the formation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which was given the authority to oversee a “Drug Scheduling” program that lists the substances under its purview on a tiered scale based on their propensity for abuse and addiction.
Schedule I is reserved for “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” which includes heroin, MDMA, psilocybin (the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”), and marijuana.
There’s an increasing amount of evidence that suggests the second and third entries on that list can be effective in treating PTSD and possibly other mental ailments, but the inclusion of that last one is objectively absurd and has been an especially major point of contention for decades (especially when you consider its Schedule I status was long used to justify strict penalties for possession).
As things currently stand, 38 states have a medical marijuana program in place, while weed has been legalized outright in 24 of them. With that said, the DEA has been in no rush to reassess the status of a drug it asserts is more dangerous than cocaine, the prescription opiates that sparked a national crisis, and the fentanyl that made it even worse (all of which are designated as Schedule II).
Thankfully, The Associated Press reports that’s on the verge of changing, as the outlet spoke with multiple sources who said the DEA is gearing up to downgrade marijuana to Schedule III (the same as ketamine, anabolic steroids, and substances with low levels of codeine).
The measure would need to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the public would have the chance to submit comments supporting or opposing a move that needs to ultimately be approved by a judge before being finalized.
A ruling in favor of the pivot would stop well short of making marijuana legal at the federal level, but it’s certainly a major step in the right direction.