President Joe Biden is making a play for the pothead vote with a historic reclassification of marijuana that would ease federal restrictions on weed.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to approve a recommendation from Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana should be reclassified from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, the first reclassification of the substance since the Controlled Substances Act was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon.
Attorney General Merrick Garland submitted the proposal to reclassify pot to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday afternoon, NBC News reported, citing an unnamed source.
DEA Agrees To Reschedule Marijuana Under Federal Law In Historic Move Following Biden-Directed Health Agency’s Recommendation: The drug agency has agreed to move cannabis to Schedule III.https://t.co/C0nP3MQG8g
— Marijuana Moment (@MarijuanaMoment) April 30, 2024
“Today, the Attorney General circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III,” DOJ public affairs director Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. “Once published by the Federal Register, it will initiate a formal rulemaking process as prescribed by Congress in the Controlled Substances Act.”
The DEA – which is a part of the Justice Department – is the federal agency tasked with enforcing controlled substance laws.
Garland’s signing off on the proposal could be interpreted as an indication of how important the matter is to the White House and Biden, who is pandering to every critical demographic in the country with the election now only six months away and the geriatric Democrat trailing former President Donald J. Trump in many polls.
The move comes after Biden called for a review of national marijuana laws in October 2022, a month before the midterm elections in which Democrats overperformed.
“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs,” the president said at the time.
“Any reclassification is still months from going into effect. After the proposal is published in the Federal Register, there will be a 60-day public comment period. The proposal will then be reviewed by an administrative law judge, who could decide to hold a hearing before the rule is approved,” according to NBC News.
The updated classification could help Biden with young voters who haven’t already been swayed by his student loan debt forgiveness schemes. It could also appeal to blacks who have been fleeing the Democrat plantation in record numbers. The administration just backed down on its efforts to ban menthol cigarettes which was strongly criticized by members of the key demographic that has been vital to Democrat hopes.
“It is great news that DEA is finally recognizing that restrictive and draconian cannabis laws need to change to catch up to what science and the majority of Americans have said loud and clear,” Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of the change.
“Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed,” Vice President Kamala Harris recently said.
“Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” the DEA states on its website. ‘Schedule III drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”
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Author: Chris Donaldson
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