Friend,

Yesterday, the Biden Administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) opened public comment on its proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III, which would continue criminalization under federal law. Act now to tell the Biden Administration marijuana must be decriminalized by descheduling it (removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act entirely).

We all deserve common-sense marijuana reform that keeps people safe and helps our communities. And on the 2020 campaign trail, President Biden made a campaign promise to do just that and decriminalize marijuana. Today, his Administration has officially proposed changing marijuana’s status from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug on the Controlled Substances Act. But that’s not enough.

Rescheduling marijuana would continue marijuana criminalization at the federal level. Marijuana criminalization would continue to harm individuals, families and communities across the United States.

Rescheduling would not: 

• End marijuana arrests;
• Release anyone in prison for marijuana;
• Restore rights and access to public benefits, such as housing assistance; 
• Stop marijuana-based deportations;  
• Protect state marijuana regulatory programs or their patients or consumers;
• Protect workers in the marijuana industry; or
• End this country’s failed approach to marijuana or right the wrongs of criminalization.

That’s why we’re working with the United for Marijuana Decriminalization, a coalition of the nation’s leading marijuana policy reform advocates and industry leaders, to ensure our voices are heard.

Submit public comment today to tell President Biden’s DEA rescheduling is not enough. 

Why is it important that marijuana is removed from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)? 

The CSA places certain drugs under existing federal law into one of five schedules.  As a result of its placement on the CSA, marijuana is criminalized. Marijuana is currently a “Schedule I” drug. Drugs under this classification are considered to have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. But we’ve long known from both research and lived experience that cannabis has medical value. 

As a Schedule III drug, marijuana would be recognized as a drug with a lower potential for abuse than Schedule I and II drugs, a currently accepted medical use, and a moderate to low physical dependence. 

But despite this new classification, as a controlled substance, it would remain criminalized and communities would continue to experience harms and disparities as a result. Even state-level medical and recreational marijuana regulation would remain federally illegal with marijuana under Schedule III. Unfortunately, the scheduling of drugs is rooted in fear and stigma, not science.

Beyond a new classification under the CSA’s schedules, rescheduling marijuana would also result in tax benefits for the cannabis industry and could change certain research requirements. However, even those who view this reclassification as progress and stand to benefit from it have acknowledged that additional reforms are necessary to end and address the harms of federal cannabis criminalization. For this reason, it shouldn’t be controversial at this point to say ‘rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III is simply not enough.’ 

State legalization of marijuana only provides state protections. People can still be charged under federal law due to marijuana’s placement on the CSA. This includes federal charges for possession, manufacturing, and distribution. A federal charge can also have consequences. For example, someone in a legal state may still be unable to find housing if they have a federal marijuana charge. These types of harmful consequences go far beyond those participating in the cannabis industry and extend to immigration, employment opportunities, and more. 

This is why it’s important that President Biden and Congress take immediate action to remove marijuana from the CSA altogether.

Now’s the time to voice support for federal marijuana decriminalization. Draft and submit a public comment to the DEA now supporting decriminalization.

President Biden can still take action to follow through on his promises to end marijuana criminalization. And we can’t stop there. We’re calling on him to use the full weight of his executive authority to end federal marijuana prohibition and begin to repair the communities that have borne the brunt of criminalization. Over 57% of people support federal marijuana legalization, with majority support amongst both Republican and Democratic voters. At least 38 states have legalized marijuana for medical use and dozens of states have already legalized marijuana for adult use. It’s high time our federal government took action on marijuana laws to protect, and reflect the will of, we the people.