The Division of Justice introduced in the present day that the Lawyer Normal has submitted to the Federal Register a discover of proposed rulemaking that initiates a proper rulemaking course of to contemplate transferring marijuana from a schedule I to a schedule III drug underneath the Managed Substances Act (CSA).
Marijuana has been categorized as a schedule I drug since Congress enacted the CSA in 1970. On October 6, 2022, President Biden requested the Lawyer Normal and the Secretary of Well being and Human Companies (HHS) to launch a scientific overview of how marijuana is. scheduled underneath federal regulation. After receiving HHS's recommendation final August, the Lawyer Normal sought authorized recommendation from the Division of Justice's Workplace of Authorized Counsel (OLC) on questions associated to this rulemaking. In gentle of HHS's medical and scientific determinations, and OLC's authorized recommendation, the Lawyer Normal exercised his authority underneath the regulation to provoke the regulatory strategy of transferring marijuana to schedule III.
Rescheduling a managed substance follows a proper rulemaking course of that requires public discover, and a chance for remark and an administrative listening to. This proposal begins the method, the place the Drug Enforcement Administration will collect and think about the data and views submitted by the general public, to make a willpower on the suitable schedule. Throughout this course of, and till a last rule is revealed, marijuana stays a managed substance.
The discover of proposed rulemaking submitted by the Division might be seen right here, and the OLC memorandum concerning points associated to the potential rescheduling of marijuana might be discovered right here.
Be taught extra concerning the regulatory course of right here.