The Classification of Cannabis as a Schedule I Drug Makes Hurdles for Marijuana to Seek Federal Legalization
Last week, President Joe Biden gave a presidential pardon to thousands of people convicted for simple possession of marijuana under federal law. This act has welcomed the idea that the never ending war on drugs may see its end. While providing his proclamation, Biden called upon governors across the country to also lighten their marijuana restrictions to further decriminalize cannabis. Furthermore, the president also requested the Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra to reconsider marijuana’s Schedule I classification under federal law.
Reclassifying Marijuana May Be More Difficult Than Expected
Cannabis is considered a Schedule I drug, which means that it is a substance with “a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.” Biden had included in his announcement that the categorization of marijuana places it in the same realm as heroin, and with more restrictions than fentanyl.
Cannabis requires research that can’t legally occur
The U.S. government last reconsidered marijuana’s legal status in 2015, which lead to a flat out rejection by the Food and Drug Administration and HHC, keeping cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance. At the time, the legitimacy of cannabis was based on “the scientific literature on whether marijuana has a currently accepted medical use,” which was a tall order considering the research for any Schedule I drug was and is still restricted from federally funded studies.
The Washington Post reported on the President’s announcement, saying that “such an evaluation—the first initiated by a U.S. president—is made all the more difficult due to tight restrictions on research into marijuana.” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a research institute within the National Institutes of Health, told the paper, “It’s something that we constantly communicate: We really need to figure out a way of doing research with these substances.”
In other words, as Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute tweeted, the government “can’t research whether marijuana should remain a ‘Schedule I’ substance bc of govt restrictions on… researching Schedule I substances.”
Rescheduling Cannabis to a Schedule II substance would change the game entirely. If marijuana was classified as a Schedule II drug, it would allow it to be prescribed by doctors, and open it up to greater medical research.
Before any of that can happen, marijuana will continue to face its paradoxical state of requiring research that can’t occur.
How the Cannabis Industry has Adapted to Federal Laws
The recreational legalization of marijuana in thirteen states has investors to pumping money into cannabis companies in order to catch the wave. Although marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, that has not stopped businesses from profiting off of the cannabis market. With the help the 2018 Farm Bill, cannabis companies have found a way to generate profits.
The 2018 Farm Bill Created Opportunities for Cannabis Companies
In the bill, it classifies all cannabis plants and products containing less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by weight as being federally legal hemp. This industrial hemp is rich in CBD, the active ingredient in many hemp products. CBD is non-psychoactive, which means that it does not get you high like the THC in marijuana, but does provide some medical benefits.
The definition of marijuana as products containing more than 0.3% delta 9 has allowed for cannabis companies to innovate new products that are derived from hemp. Now, hemp-derived cannabinoids are manufactured that produce a psychoactive high like delta 9 and are legal in most states. Some of these cannabinoids are found right here at Mints Market. At Mints, we have products that are derived from hemp, and also produce a high reminiscent of delta 9. These cannabinoids are Delta 8 and HHC. If you would like to learn more about these cannabinoids, check out our blog! Otherwise, you can get these hemp-derived goods now at our shop.
Brands like Mints are able to provide you with high quality cannabis products all derived from hemp plants in states where marijuana is prohibited.
