Pursuant to President Biden’s scheduling review order for marijuana, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced its support for moving marijuana to Sch. III on the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Now, the Drug Enforcement Administration must ultimately decide marijuana’s placement on the drug schedules.
DPA supports completely removing marijuana from the CSA, or descheduling, because the continued placement of marijuana under the CSA would mean that most marijuana conduct would remain illegal under federal law. Despite where the Administration lands, now is our moment to push Congress to act on marijuana justice and bring us the relief our communities deserve.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) in the U.S Senate would provide the comprehenstive reform we need. It would deschedule marijuana to end federal prohibition and begin to repair the damage by expunging marijuana convictions and reinvesting in the most harmed communities. Urge Congress to pass the CAOA so we can advance marijuana justice nationwide.