A decision on whether to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. won’t come until after the presidential election, a timeline that raises the chances it could be a potent political issue in the closely contested race.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has set a hearing date to take comment on the proposed historic change in federal drug policy for Dec. 2.
The date means a final decision could well come in the next administration. While it’s possible it could precede the end of President Biden’s term, issuing it before Inauguration Day “would be pretty expedited,” said cannabis lawyer Brian Vicente, reports the Associated Press.
That could put a new spotlight on the presidential candidates’ positions on marijuana. Vice President Harris has backed decriminalizing the drug and said it’s “absurd” to have it in the DEA’s Schedule I category alongside heroin and LSD. Her position has shifted; she once oversaw the enforcement of cannabis laws and opposed legalized recreational use for adults in California while running for attorney general in 2010.
Former President Trump signaled support for a Florida legalization measure on Saturday, after comments that he increasingly agrees that people shouldn’t be jailed for the drug now legal in multiple states, “whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
During his run for president in 2016, Trump backed medical marijuana and that pot should be left up to the states. During his term, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal.
In May, the Justice Department proposed reclassifying marijuana, saying saying the change would recognize marijuana’s medical uses and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. The proposal would not legalize marijuana for recreational use.
DEA has said it doesn’t yet have a position on whether to go through with the change, saying it would keep weighing the issue as the federal rulemaking process plays out.
The new classification would be the most significant shift in U.S. drug policy in 50 years and could be a potent political issue, especially with younger voters
It faces opposition from groups such as Smart Approaches to Marijuana, where president Kevin Sabet argues there isn’t enough data to move cannabis to the less-dangerous Schedule III category, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids. The DEA’s move to hold the hearing is “a huge win in our fight to have this decision guided by medical science, not politics,” he said, noting that 18 states’ attorneys general back his opposition.
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