U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and 10 of their Democratic colleagues have called on the federal government to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances.
IN letter The senators then asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended that marijuana be reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule III, making it less restrictive. Senators, however, believe that marijuana should be de-scheduled altogether.
Marijuana is classified on the same level as heroin, meaning it “currently has no accepted medical use for treatment in the United States,” and is currently in a more unsafe category than fentanyl or cocaine, according to the joint letter.
Patrick Nightingale, executive director of Pittsburgh NORML, a pro-cannabis legalization group, explained that moving marijuana to Schedule III would mean the DEA would still have regulatory authority over the drug. However, declassifying it would remove marijuana from the CSA entirely, leaving states free to set their own marijuana policies, including banning it if they wanted.
The senators write that removing marijuana from the list would be “a significant step in reversing the failed policies of the War on Drugs and restoring common sense to the nation’s marijuana policy,” adding that the Biden administration “has an opportunity to delist marijuana like it hasn’t in decades.”
Marijuana is not legal for recreational employ in Pennsylvania, although Medicinal marijuana is legal in the Keystone State since 2016. Many states bordering Pennsylvania have already legalized recreational marijuana employ.
Fetterman has been a leading voice in the legalization of marijuana in Pennsylvania for years, ever since time as mayor of braddockDuring his successful campaign for lieutenant governor in 2018, he continued to promote his support for marijuana legalization and said Pennsylvania should “go all-in on Colorado” after he won the endorsement NORMAL PAC.
In 2019, the then deputy governor Fetterman visited all 67 counties over the course of 98 days as part of a statewide tour aimed at hearing from Pennsylvanians about the prospect of legalizing marijuana for recreational employ.
Fetterman also highlighted the issue during his successful 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, selling popular t-shirts on his campaign website which read, “it’s high time we got down to business and legalized pot in Pennsylvania and the US. More justice, jobs, income, and freedom.” When Biden pardoned some marijuana-related offenses last month, Fetterman celebrated the decision.
Nightingale praised Fetterman for his continued focus on marijuana legalization.His steadfast support for legalization has earned the admiration of countless marijuana consumers and advocates for full legalization,” he said.
