Nearly 50 diverse organizations, including faith‑based groups like CatholicVote, have sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him not to reclassify marijuana under federal law.
As reported by the Daily Wire, the collective of nearly 50 organizations, including CatholicVote, the Family Research Council, the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, and the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents (DEAFNA), formally asked Trump to maintain marijuana’s Schedule I classification. –
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) schedules substances based on their potential for abuse and accepted medical use. Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services controversially recommended rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
Currently, marijuana remains a Schedule I substance, but there are discussions in the White about potentially moving the drug to Schedule III.
The letter to the administration underscored that rescheduling marijuana “would result in serious harm to public health and safety, with a particular emphasis on the welfare of children.”
Trump sparked debate earlier this month when he indicated at a White House press briefing that a decision on marijuana’s classification could come in “the next few weeks.” He acknowledged the drug’s complex impact, especially on younger populations.
The letter cited such concerns, telling Trump: “You have an opportunity to make a stand for the safety of children across America by opposing the flawed proposal to reschedule marijuana.”
It also stressed that reclassification arguments often mistakenly rely on a perceived gap between marijuana and highly dangerous drugs like heroin, overlooking the legal and scientific criteria governing drug scheduling.
The organizations pointed to CDC data indicating that 30% of cannabis users meet clinical criteria for cannabis use disorder and that marijuana users face a 30% addiction risk. The letter also highlighted concerns about the trend of increasing THC potency in marijuana, which is linked to mental health problems among adolescents and young adults. THC is the active, addictive component in marijuana.
“Arguments like ‘marijuana should not be in the same category as heroin’ are politically salient and easy to understand, but they fundamentally misunderstand how drug scheduling works,” the letter pointed out.
“Contrary to popular belief, drug scheduling is not a harm index,” the letter explained. “Rather, it balances the accepted medical use of a substance with its potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs have no accepted, safe medical use and a high potential for abuse. Marijuana fits squarely within this definition, a fact acknowledged in every scheduling review prior to 2023 (the Obama Administration recommended against rescheduling in 2016).”
Despite the potential of Trump and Republicans attaining political gains among younger and independent voters by rescheduling marijuana, the coalition argued the health and safety risks simply outweigh such advantages.
The six-page letter pointed out that, according to a 2024 statement from the National Transportation Safety Board, “HHS-certified laboratories” used for drug testing “are not authorized to test for Schedule III controlled substances.” If marijuana were rescheduled as Schedule III, in other words, it would mean “airline pilots, airline maintenance workers, bus and truck drivers, locomotive engineers, subway train operators, ship captains, pipeline operators, personnel transporting hazardous materials, and other safety-sensitive transportation employees would be prevented from being tested for marijuana use.”
Downgrading marijuana to Schedule III, the letter also explained, would give dispensaries massive tax breaks. The result would be that “street dealers and dispensaries alike would be able to receive reductions for promoting or marketing the sale of addictive drugs.”
In the letter, the group also stated that international drug cartels and Chinese money launderers that operate marijuana farms in the US could benefit from a major tax break if weed is rescheduled.
Kelsey Reinhardt, president of CatholicVote, stated: “Make no mistake, drug use erodes what makes us human: our ability to reason. And the states that have approved marijuana see every day the diminished dignity of those human persons who abuse it in real time.”
The post CatholicVote joins more than 40 orgs urging Trump to reject downgrading marijuana appeared first on CatholicVote org.
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