The Alabama Political Reporter writes
On Monday, a coalition of 11 state attorneys normal, together with Alabama AG Steve Marshall, despatched a letter to US Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland opposing the federal rescheduling of marijuana.
In Could, the Division of Justice formally started the method of rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I drug (essentially the most restrictive class) to Schedule III. If profitable, this try is not going to legalize marijuana, however will cut back the penalties for unlawful use.
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In a press launch, Marshall mentioned that “the Biden-Harris administration's rush to legalize marijuana is past the bounds of the DOJ's authority and can have disastrous penalties.”
He known as the choice to pursue rescheduling a failure “to 'comply with the science'” and “an affordable ploy to desperately rating some factors with voters earlier than November.”
Within the letter, the attorneys normal undergo a litany of arguments towards the rescheduling of marijuana, together with procedural complaints and references to how they went into concerns earlier than rescheduling the drug.
Probably the most hanging claims made within the letter is that rescheduling marijuana “would violate the USA' worldwide treaty obligations.”
Traditionally, because the AG factors out, the Single Conference on Narcotic Medicine has been learn as requiring marijuana to be a Schedule I or Schedule II drug. They argue that current interpretations that permit marijuana to be Schedule III are ill-founded.
Nonetheless, different signatories of the only Conference have already decriminalized or legalized using marijuana, together with America's neighbors to the north and south.
And a Could report from the Drug Enforcement Company bolstered that making marijuana a Schedule III drug might nonetheless adjust to the related treaties, so long as some extra laws had been in place. The AGs say this might basically “create a brand new schedule” and violate the Managed Substances Act.
A lot of the AG's letter, nevertheless, focuses on the private and social penalties of marijuana use.
The press launch from Marshall's workplace particularly states that marijuana is “significantly dangerous to baby and adolescent growth and has hyperlinks to psychological well being situations resembling psychosis and schizophrenia, in addition to diseases bodily illnesses resembling coronary heart illness and lots of types of most cancers.
However neither the letter nor Legal professional Normal Marshall attracts any consideration to the long-term well being results of alcohol use.
Authorized in all 50 states, alcohol could cause strokes, cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, and a number of other varieties of most cancers in response to the Nationwide Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. And, like marijuana, the consumption of alcohol by minors has unfavourable results on the event of the mind.
The letter additionally cites analysis on marijuana's results on homelessness, crime and the economic system.
A particular criticism is the consequences of a state legalizing marijuana on surrounding states the place marijuana stays unlawful. Based on the letter, coping with marijuana popping out of Colorado resulted in “so many arrests” in Cheyenne County, Nebraska, that they ran out of house and “threatened to fail Deuel County.”
However whereas making marijuana Schedule III wouldn’t legalize the drug, this particular concern would now not be related if it had been really legalized on the federal stage.
The general public remark interval for the proposed rescheduling ended Monday. A revenue that analyzes the feedback discovered that 69.3 % of the feedback assist the discount of authorized penalties for using marijuana.
The Justice Division will now must conduct its personal evaluation of the feedback and determine whether or not or to not enact the proposed rescheduling. In the event that they determine to reschedule marijuana, the choice will go into impact 30 days after the ultimate rule is issued.
Federal legalization of marijuana continues to be a methods off regardless and nearly actually gained't occur throughout a Biden presidency. It might be a related coverage subject through the subsequent president's time period.
Republican candidate Donald Trump didn’t suppress using marijuana in states the place it was legalized throughout his first time period, however he additionally has not been a vocal supporter of legalization. As a senator, presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris launched laws to decriminalize marijuana.
Right here in Alabama, leisure use of marijuana is illegitimate below each state and federal legislation. Due to this fact, even when the drug was legalized within the federal authorities, it’s not clear if it could be authorized within the state.
Medical marijuana is already technically authorized in Alabama, however an ongoing authorized battle involving the Alabama Medical Hashish Fee has prevented anybody from making the most of that truth.
https://www.alreporter.com/2024/07/24/ag-marshall-opposes-rescheduling-marijuana-calls-it-a-cheap-ploy/
