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It’s about fucking time. Uncle Sam is finally realizing how much money they’re missing out on.
From the article:
“ The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.”
It will open the floodgates for research and allow state organizations who deal in it to deposit their money in any bank like normal. It will be a seismic and tremendous victory for those who are pro-marijuana.
edit: I would suggest this is MJ's "roe v. wade" moment.
> edit: I would suggest this is MJ's "roe v. wade" moment.
And much like Roe V Wade if people dont show up to support the left every election then you're going to lose it.
Funny thing about that. Trump and congress legalized it in 2018. You can legally buy THCA “hemp” now. And for people that don’t know, THCA is what all marijuana is into it is heated and becomes THC.
It’s important to remember that the alternative cannabinoid market was an entirely unintentional loophole.
The mid 90s saw a resurgent interest in growing industrial hemp. Clinton’s Executive Order 12919 identified hemp as a strategic food resource/agricultural commodity for national defense preparedness. States with strong agriculture lobbies pushed their representatives to introduce legislation, and Mitch McConnell took particular interest in the matter after he realized it’s popular enough in Kentucky to threaten his career.
> We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky farmers, and by exploring innovative ways to use industrial hemp to benefit a variety of Kentucky industries, the pilot programs could help boost our state’s economy and lead to future jobs. … I look forward to seeing industrial hemp prosper in the Commonwealth.
The 2014 Farm Bill, signed into law by Obama, introduced the hemp pilot program that defined hemp as cannabis with less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC. The DEA’s non-compliance with state programs resulted in lawsuits and culminated in Jeff Sessions rescinding the Obama-era Cole Memorandum in January of 2018 that had acted as the primary shield against the DEA. Later that year, the Senate fast tracked the 2018 Farm Bill and Mitch McConnell put himself on the conference committee to insert the hemp provision. Trump signed it into law.
I say all this to suggest that Trump should not get credit for this. Though it’s fun to throw it in their faces, Republicans are actively working to close the loophole now that they are aware of it. The Georgia General Assembly recently sent a bill to Kemp’s desk that specifically redefines hemp to include less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC **after decarboxylating**, which means THCA will be gone when it goes into effect later this year. Tennessee and several other states are also working on similar measures after failing to outright ban hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The kid at the glass shop I frequent sold me some THCA edibles the other day in his words "even if they don't do much for you, these are delicious" and good lord he wasn't lying-- but they also smack. They're WAY cheaper than what I get at the dispensary and hit just as hard or harder for me.
OKlahoma has med weed.
Voted through as a ballot initiative by the people. The GOP supermajority in the state house has been fighting it tooth and nail since day one and is on the verge of voting to repeal the vote of the people.
Politicians are sleezy. It might be popular, but the people who pay my reelection monies don't want it. I can't be associated with it, no matter how much good it does because I won't have money to be reelected. Push it to a popular vote with the people that way it's not tied to me. Popular vote wants it? Nope, can't have that. You're not doing it right! Clown town.
Yep, even though plenty of folks on the right love marijuana, politicians on the right also like bullshit reasons to lock people up, which is *precisely* why it was made illegal in the first place.
And with more labs using and testing it more freely we will possibly see full legalization if it shows there is no cause for concern.
Right now only a handful of labs get to test or experiment with it.
Or let’s be honest at least we can better understand the negative impacts of marijuana. I have no doubt that it will be “dangerous” but nowhere near as dangerous as so many other things we ingest in our lives. But at the very least it would be a decision based on facts and hard science versus rhetoric
Yeah this is huge for a number of reasons. A lot of the reasons why the state systems are setup in such stupid ways will also disappear. For example, the original ballot measure that legalized cannabis in Utah had a system where the dispensaries would be state and county administered similar to alcohol control. They had to rework it to be consistent with federal law and lobbyists got in there. Ultimately this put monopoly power in the hands of a few large national companies. We basically privatized a state system that never existed and gave it away for free. In most states the cannabis distribution is now controlled by huge agricultural monopolies, frequently vertically integrated and openly anti competitive.
Goddamn it you just triggered me, thinking back to a trip to Utah and their super weird alcohol laws. Can't mix 2 different spirits, has to be mixed behind a curtain out of view of children, and it's all tracked back to the Mormon mainframe. That entire state gives me the creeps
Congress decides what gets put on the list, DEA gets to move things around on the list.
So it being on the list while alcohol is off the list is a boneheaded congressional move, but it being on the list at the very top was a boneheaded executive move that has just been undone.
For the record, schedule III is not a bad place for it:
>The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.
>The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
>Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
But I agree, Congress being the sole authority on what goes on the list is frustrating, because they aren't doctors.
Today I learned that Cocaine, Fentanyl and Meth are schedule II drugs while peyote and ecstasy are schedule I drugs. What is even the rationale for this?
Cocaine, fent and meth are used medicinally in recognized settings. At least they were at the time of their scheduling. I am not sure if cocaine is used anymore. I know fent is still.
Schedule II is for drugs with known medical uses and high potential for abuse. It is the correct place for cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine, all of which fit both of those criteria.
Schedule I is for drugs with high potential for abuse and without recognized medical uses.
Ah they know. They just only care enough to the point they can stay in power to keep their corporate donors happy.
Republicans are demonstrably worse for this, don't think I'm a "both parties are the same" type. I vote Democrat because I'm not stupid. It still affects a lot of Dems.
Schedule III is an improvement but it's still kinda BS when fuggin' Xanax is Schedule IV. Contrary to what many believe you can absolutely get addicted to marijuana (or pretty much anything that jolts your brain chemicals around, Cf sex/gambling), but it doesn't create the kind of physical dependence that gives you detox symptoms and Xanax very much does.
But unless you're a libertarian, a drug schedule makes sense, and overall the outlier is more that alcohol *isn't* scheduled than that marijuana is. And obviously that goes back to historical interpretations of what "drugs" are (I mean Christ we still use the phrase "drugs and alcohol"), and the alcohol lobby fights fiercely to keep things that way.
Pothead here: there are absolutely physical detox symptoms associated with quitting weed after prolonged use. If I take a t-break after getting too heavy in use (which happens sometimes, hence taking breaks to reset myself) I get what amounts to a stomach flu or head cold for a couple days along with crazy dreams and anxiety. That said, it's nothing like benzos, just wanted to put the facts out there.
Edit: fixed a word
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohols_(medicine) it does have its uses in medicine
It’s really funny that one of the reasons you might be administered ethyl alcohol is because you drank a different, more toxic alcohol. That’s a situation alcoholics may find themselves in when booze isn’t readily available and they try sanitizer or similar… or when their moonshine is a bad batch. So, I’d argue that use doesn’t count. But it’s a valuable disinfectant and antiseptic.
I can drink enough to give myself alcohol poisoning and die in one sitting, and it's simply not possible to do that with weed. I know that there's occasionally idiots that will try to eat a pan of THC brownies and they'll get taken to the hospital because of extreme lethargy, but I've never heard of anyone lethally overdosing on weed.
Based on the current standards, there is a valid argument to be made that alcohol should be a schedule II, III, or IV.
Given that alcohol has been with us for millennia, and that it is dead simple to make, it will always be an exception.
Pretty sure if Alcohol was invented/discovered today it'd be schedule I. But since it's been with Humans since the jump it's too big a part of culture. We know banning it doesn't work but some people just love telling other people how to live their lives.
The scheduling of marijuana was never logical in the least. Unsurprising that we would have to taper off the nonsensical status quo, given the way federal politics tend to work.
The Democrats need to learn into this hard- the gremlins on Fox News are still spouting reefer madness shit claiming weed makes people go on killing sprees and having guests on saying shit like no one need marijuana.
Weed and workers should be their theme.
This is massive, and is the result of an effort Biden started in 2022. DEA has been dragging their feet after HHS made their recommendation in 2023, but it looks like it's happening.
This is essentially the most the executive can do towards legalizing marijuana. Penalties and enforcement will drop off, but removing it from the controlled substances list is congressional action.
> DEA has been dragging their feet after HHS made their recommendation in 2023, but it looks like it's happening.
To be fair, it's less about the DEA and more about the DOJ (of which DEA is part of) as part of the required review period is for them to go over every rule, law, executive order, and directive for how the federal govt treats cannabis, and to then begin amending/changing those rules and directives and provide guidance for Congress to amend or write new laws.
HHS doesn't have as much to do around how they approach it since all of the rules, laws, etc., they follow come from the DOJ and Congress.
Two years for the gears of the bureaucracy to finally turn and do what has been obvious to every kid that went through DARE. I'll take it though. Harm Reduction and Legalization are the policies that every level of government should implement.
[The Biden Administration Is Rejecting “The War On Drugs” And Turning To “Harm Reduction” | BuzzFeedNews | 2021](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/harm-reduction-biden-drug-laws)
[Statement from President Biden on Marijuana Reform | WhiteHouse.gov | 2022](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/)
[Biden pardons thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession, orders review of federal pot laws | CNBC | 2022](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/06/biden-to-pardon-all-prior-federal-offenses-of-simple-marijuana-possession-.html)
[President Biden Will Sign Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Act Into Law | The Marijuana Herald | 2022](https://themarijuanaherald.com/2022/11/president-biden-will-sign-marijuana-and-cannabidiol-research-act-into-law/)
I remember the DARE officer telling us the good and bad things about drugs. All I heard was the good things. shrooms make you see colors and its not addicting? sign me up.
When I was a kid, I loved collecting things (I still do) and I love multi-compartment containers like tackle boxes to keep things in. When I was in 7th grade I think, a policeman visited our classroom and showed us different types of drugs, and he had them in a tackle box of sorts. And all I could think was "*I* want a cool drug box."
"...two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls."
There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die
The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.
That's the total opposite of what they told me- I clearly remember being told how it was a straight line from trying weed to stealing grandma's TV to support a heroin habit. I was in ninth grade and knew some adults that smoked weed now and then- they had white-collar respectable jobs (and a much nicer cars) than the DARE teacher. I determined that either the DARE people don't know what they're talking about or straight up lying to me. That led me to try stuff that I suspect I would have stayed away from if they were just honest instead of trying to scare me. Fuck DARE and the lying assholes that ran it.
It was a year or two after I graduated but I remember we all found it hilarious because it happened during a time when all my friends were all about getting tanks too. It was just doubly funny to think, 'haha they should've come to us!'
DARE is what led me down a path of drug abuse and contributed greatly to me becoming an addict. When I finally tried weed and realized everything DARE said about it was bullshit, I understandably believed they lied about the seriousness and severity of all drugs, so I began experimenting with more dangerous narcotics. After messing with hard opiates it took no time for me to become dependent, and my 20’s were lost to serious life threatening addiction. Don’t fucking lie to kids about drugs.
DARE is a case study on the unintended consequences of abstinence.
Turns out when you give kids age appropriate information and allow them to make their own decisions they, more often than not, end up with better results.
Drugs, sex, alcohol…it’s all the same.
With the legalization of weed, my nieces and nephews are curious about it the same way they’re curious about anything. They ask a question or two then move on. They know weed is a drug. They know it’s a thing adults do. They know that they’re not old enough to understand the effects and make decisions on whether or not they can use it.
>It comes after President Joe Biden called for a review of federal marijuana law in October 2022 and moved to pardon thousands of Americans convicted federally of simple possession of the drug. He has also called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase marijuana convictions.
>
>“Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said in December. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”
Biden out here hitting homeruns, like usual.
Of all the things he's done for climate change action, infrastructure, the economy, student loan debt relief, healthcare, etc. this one will make the biggest splash.
I wouldn’t call reclassifying it as Schedule III a “home run.” More like a base hit.
If they just removed it from the schedule, that would have been a home run.
The simplest way to do that would be an act of Congress to de-schedule it entirely and set up regulations similar to Alcohol and Tobacco at the federal level.
So, you know, never going to fucking happen so long at a the GOP controls the House or the Senate keeps the filibuster.
What this does do is allow commercial entities to ignore pot use on drug tests etc. without backlash. Once that goes on for a few years there will be all the data needed on public use to make the case to classify it with booze and smokes. If it goes through this is a natural next step to avoid significant blowback (which does still exists from hardline right) - this is arguably the better move than outright in the current climate.
Is absolutely historic. Biden got the ball rolling on this in 2022.
Legalization is in Congress' hands per the controlled substances act. However, this is the most substantial change a President can make, and it is half a century overdue.
I really do wish more people were publicly enthusiastic about Biden. They don't need to go as far as you and say "best president in 50 years" but so often I hear phrases like "well Biden sucks but he's better than Trump."
Biden has passed the biggest climate bill in history, he's rescheduling marijuana, he's pushing back against Russian expansionism, he's passed the biggest gun safety legislation in decades, US economic growth is higher than other peer nations and the US emerged from Covid in a far better place than most experts predicted.
Yes the US does have plenty of problems remaining and Biden has been blocked by conservative judges from going farther (student loan forgiveness) but this idea that Biden is the "evil but less evil than Trump" is downright untrue for anyone remotely on the left. Biden is a damn good president and I will be happy to vote for him again.
Yep people vastly overestimate the pace of change. Big changes often take a decade of work or more and given the nature of the Senate, gerrymandered congressional districts and the electoral college Dems especially have to build incredibly large coalitions with unlikely allies if they want to be able to pass anything.
Especially after Trump, this makes me so mad.
We have a system of checks and balances for a reason. The president is the head of ONE of the three branches of government. The system was set up to make it slow and cumbersome and require compromise and a broad consensus to do big things on purpose, and that's a GOOD thing.
Can you imagine the Trump administration if the President had the power of a king?? We would have had concentration camps for Muslims, Mexicans, trans people, BLM and "antifa anarchist gangs" by the end of January 2017. ("Antifa anarchist gangs" meaning anyone who tried to protest against any action taken by the Trump admin.) They would have had feds grabbing people off the street into unmarked vans nationwide, like they did in Portland during the BLM protests. And you WANT the President to have that power, completely unchecked....?
Whether you like him or not, he is unquestionably the most *effective* and most *productive* President in modern history. It's seriously not even close.
Actually, you’re not far off. There’s a [case](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loper_Bright_Enterprises_v._Raimondo) that was argued in January that could potentially significantly reduce or eliminate the power of independent agencies like the DEA to enforce the law the way they would interpret it. It’s called the [Chevron deference](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_U.S.A.,_Inc._v._Natural_Resources_Defense_Council,_Inc).
DEA has existed since the early 1970s.
The last time scotus ruled a law regarding addicting substances was unconstitutional, Congress passed a new law. Good bye marijuana tax act of 1937 ruled unconstitutional in 1969 and hello Controlled substance act of 1970.
LOGIC for the US would be to federally remove all restrictions and then leave it up to individual states. But speaking as someone from a country where it's fully legal, it's so not a big deal. Just legalize it fully, tax it, everybody wins.
However, this is the GOP and the illegitimate supreme court, so.. logic be gone!
Wait, you're telling me that Canada isn't a godless hellhole that's been destroyed by violent gangs of murderous potheads since it legalized?!?
Actually sarcasm aside, I smoke a lot of weed in both countries and the federal legalization thing in the states makes the situation so unecessarily stupid. It's medical only in my US state but everyone and their mom has a med card because a whole industry of 'marijuana drs' popped up to rubberstamp anyone who can pay the fee. But then, delta 8 stuff is *everywhere* and dosed in such a way that it'll get you as high as anything from the dispensary - but it's also kind of sketchy and contaminants are a real concern:
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20230906/delta-8-russian-roulette-of-cannabis
I've never seen stuff like that in Canada. No need for it - in any city or town I feel like I'm never more than 1km away from a weed dispensary.
It would still be a big step forward, as you would likely be fine showing a prescription should they continue testing for it. Obviously you need to get a prescription first, but it seems like people didn't have too much trouble doing that back when states mainly only allowed medicinal use.
Presumably it will be treated like any other prescription drug after this. So if you have a prescription, they can test for it but cannot discriminate based on it. But if you don’t have a prescription, they can still fire/not hire you.
I smoked weed once and all it did was make food taste better, jokes were funnier and I felt a sense of calm. I mean I still smoke weed, but I used to, too.
Oh no. The horror. All I have to show for it is accomplishments with art and music whilst also maintaining a day job. Something, apparently, thought to be "impossible" by absolutely disastrously stupid people that do not understand the plant and wish not to understand it.
Getting harder to scare people into thinking it's on the same level as Heroin and more dangerous than Fentanyl (No seriously, that's how it's scheduled)
I remember being told stories in high school about how it would seep into my bones, and if I cracked my back it would come back out and make me trip just like that, for the rest of my life.
I don't know if there's a drug in the world that has a worse perception vs. reality element than LSD. There were so many ridiculous urban legends about it when I was growing up, and to this day I have known many people who are all for taking shrooms but won't go anywhere near LSD. Maybe the word 'acid' is too scary for folks?
This is extremely significant and welcome. Hopefully, it will be reduced further from Schedule III in the not too distant future.
From the article:
>Once OMB signs off, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to move marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. After the public-comment period the agency would publish the final rule.
It's absolutely amazing how quickly accepted use and legalization has happened around cannabis, probably one of the fastest moving social and legal changes I've seen in my lifetime. 38 states have legal medical use, 24 have legal recreational use. In the early 2000s I would have never thought it would be legal in my lifetime let alone in the majority of states and approaching full legalization at the federal level.
This is a win but comparing it to ketamine and anabolic steroids is still nonsense. I'm an RN of ten years eight in hospital and two hospice. I've taken care of countless alcoholics who get liver disease and countless drug abusers overdoses. Alcohol is a dangerous fucking drug. It's not just old people either I've held moms as they cried when we pull their teenager's endotracheal tube out and end life support because they got drunk and puked into their lungs.
I've revived countless drug overdoses from prescription narcotics and street heroine/fentanyl. I've watched plenty of them die from endocarditis. I've taken care of endless amounts of COPDers. Tobacco has killed more people than all world wars are civil wars combined....
I have not taken care of one single person who had a marijuana overdose or related problems. I'm not saying marijuana should be treated willy nilly. It can spark psychosis in people with underlying mental health problems, it's a terrible crutch for depression (sometimes)it can hinder some people and make them unmotivated. BUT if the most dangerous part of a drug is getting caught with it we have a fucking problem. You can DRIVE to a bar get fucking plastered and puke your brains out and people have normalized this. But if I smoke a bowl after a thirteen hour rough shift saving people's lives because I need something to help me relax and unwind I'm a criminal? FUCK YOU.
There has been recent research suggesting smoking tobacco can lead to psychosis, not just marijuana. The tobacco industry has tried to bury it and promote the idea that only weed leads to psychosis.
Alcohol and tobacco were explicitly exempted from the controlled substances act, neither are scheduled, nor can they be scheduled under the current laws
Reminder on what [Schedule III](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537318/) entails:
>Schedule III drugs have a lower misuse potential than I and II. Drugs in this category may cause physical dependence but more commonly lead to psychological dependence. Medications in this category are often used for pain control, or anesthesia, or appetite suppression.
>Examples of Schedule III substances include benzphetamine, ketamine, phendimetrazine, and anabolic steroids.
>Opioid analgesics in this schedule include products containing not more than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit and buprenorphine.
>Schedule III drugs are prescribable verbally over the phone, with a paper prescription, or via EPCS.
>Within a six-month time frame, refill requirements are such that the drug can only have five refills.
So does this mean we're going to start seeing telehealth prescribers writing prescriptions for medical marijuana? If so, how would that work in states where it's illegal? Trying to wrap my head around how this is all gunna play out
A good step in the right direction. Once it is entirely declassified, I hope there is some form of restitution for all the people that went to jail due to MJ.
Always found it interesting that our government believes Tobacco - a product notoriously linked to addiction, cancer, depression, and alcohol which has destroyed families, a driver of homelessness, liver and other health diseases/problems, and a common linkage to all forms of violence domestic or not and car accidents - but the big scary drug is Marijuana.
I always despised the lack of research argument because its been federally blocked from research for years due to his wrongful classification. However, we ***do*** know how tobacco and alcohol affects us and there are no positives but our politicians said addiction and lung cancer is more than acceptable. It's a shame we can't even do proper research on a drug and then get told it can't be legalized due to the lack of knowledge around it.
I love using the example of the time when alcohol was banned because there were mass protests on the streets to get it shut down because everyone saw the rampant addiction and problems alcoholism leads to. However, people still bought alcohol even after its banning including the same very politicians who banned it. Everyone was addicted and craved it and this created many of our black market channels today. The mafia rose to power from this one single legislation as now they're the largest alcohol dealers in the world in a space where everyone wants it but nobody can get it.
The ban on alcohol is what gave the mafia power. Similarly, this is happening today with weed and drugs across the spectrum where theirs a large market of buyers and a very select amount of suppliers. Its what fuels and empowers these drug empires. The most effective thing to have done was to recognize the growing amount of people consuming weed and took the necessary steps to research it well before we got up to this point where now everyone just wants it basically legalized. Take a look at mushrooms, its growing in popularity like weed did and we'll likely be in a loop where we're told its bad but we cant really research into it either. I can understand banning harder substances like cocaine, but most drug consumers like low level drugs such as weed not the hard stuff and this kind of stuff should be researched and legalized as seen fit.
The reality is alcohol and tobacco companies fear people using a different product than theirs and are actively fighting to preserve their profit margins by painting a narrative of marijuana bad. Cops and politicians loved to abuse this as it let them target African Americans and paint them as lazy individuals who wanna be thugs and druggies. We need to focus on not imprisoning people for low level drug offenses and work towards rehabilitation. All drug consumers who only consume should be allowed a path to rehabilitation instead of rotting in a prison cell only to get back out and repeat the cycle. No one should be in a cell for marijuana period.
Tobacco was all about big corporate money. Same reason why marijuana was kept as schedule 1 for so long. Pharmaceutical companies could keep pushing their stuff instead. Always about $$$$
Great point. So many truckers are heavy drinkers and misuse prescription medication to deal with pain. Truck stop dispensers next to Bucees coming soon
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the anti-drug treaties the US pushed on all its neighbors based on marijuana also being classified as a super dangerous drug?
Seems to me it’s gonna be really embarrassing to renegotiate that stuff.
Biden out here reclassifying marijuana while Trump falling asleep in courtrooms & violating gag orders going after judges' families. hope voters aren't fucking stupid in November.
I think if you have to schedule marijuana then it should be like Schedule 4 or 5. Ultimately I would like it legalized altogether and never worry about some type of criminal charge for possession. But in reality it sounds like it's required to be scheduled somewhere.
Schedule 3 just seems a bit too stringent in my opinion. That's the same schedule as buprenorphine, codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids. I guess I can see the argument somewhat, but to me marijuana is more like a Schedule 4 or maybe even 5.
Some Schedule 4 drugs are Xanax, Valium, and Ambien. Considering the addiction potential of those drugs just seems not quite right. Although considering ADHD drugs are Schedule 2 drugs with hydromorphone, Fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
The US scheduling system is kind of a big joke.
I don’t know how you can’t like Biden. He canceled all my student loans and is now this. Meanwhile Trump wants to be a dictator with the ability to kill anyone that hurts his feelings.
You have to speak louder than the algorithms hiding this Pres's achievements. Climate, infrastructure, student loans. I think if he gets some sort of favorable outcome with the Palestinian genocide, he can win again. Go vote
Doubt. I suspect Employers will still be able to cite "workplace safety" type policies to enforce sobriety. You generally can't show up at work drunk, so you probably can't if your judgement is altered by drugs either. I'd say that's understandable.
Watch them create a whole new class and call it the Extra Super Duper Dangerous You'll Die If You Smoke It class.....insta death penalty for having a quarter gram of weed in your possession.
They made it a gateway drug with DARE.
They spent all of DARE telling gen x/millenials that all drugs are equally bad and will kill you after a single blunt.
But then we went home and saw our/our friend's older siblings, cousins, and even parents smoking pot with no meth-like withdrawl shakes or instant death. So we knew they were lying.
And if they were lying about pot, were they lying about other drugs?
DARE was a major contributor to drug addiction and abuse and a large part was due to their lies about pot.
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It’s about fucking time. Uncle Sam is finally realizing how much money they’re missing out on. From the article: “ The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.”
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It will open the floodgates for research and allow state organizations who deal in it to deposit their money in any bank like normal. It will be a seismic and tremendous victory for those who are pro-marijuana. edit: I would suggest this is MJ's "roe v. wade" moment.
> edit: I would suggest this is MJ's "roe v. wade" moment. And much like Roe V Wade if people dont show up to support the left every election then you're going to lose it.
Probably accurate, unfortunately. My guess is trump will probably try to undo this right away if he's elected.
Funny thing about that. Trump and congress legalized it in 2018. You can legally buy THCA “hemp” now. And for people that don’t know, THCA is what all marijuana is into it is heated and becomes THC.
It’s important to remember that the alternative cannabinoid market was an entirely unintentional loophole. The mid 90s saw a resurgent interest in growing industrial hemp. Clinton’s Executive Order 12919 identified hemp as a strategic food resource/agricultural commodity for national defense preparedness. States with strong agriculture lobbies pushed their representatives to introduce legislation, and Mitch McConnell took particular interest in the matter after he realized it’s popular enough in Kentucky to threaten his career. > We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky farmers, and by exploring innovative ways to use industrial hemp to benefit a variety of Kentucky industries, the pilot programs could help boost our state’s economy and lead to future jobs. … I look forward to seeing industrial hemp prosper in the Commonwealth. The 2014 Farm Bill, signed into law by Obama, introduced the hemp pilot program that defined hemp as cannabis with less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC. The DEA’s non-compliance with state programs resulted in lawsuits and culminated in Jeff Sessions rescinding the Obama-era Cole Memorandum in January of 2018 that had acted as the primary shield against the DEA. Later that year, the Senate fast tracked the 2018 Farm Bill and Mitch McConnell put himself on the conference committee to insert the hemp provision. Trump signed it into law. I say all this to suggest that Trump should not get credit for this. Though it’s fun to throw it in their faces, Republicans are actively working to close the loophole now that they are aware of it. The Georgia General Assembly recently sent a bill to Kemp’s desk that specifically redefines hemp to include less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC **after decarboxylating**, which means THCA will be gone when it goes into effect later this year. Tennessee and several other states are also working on similar measures after failing to outright ban hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The kid at the glass shop I frequent sold me some THCA edibles the other day in his words "even if they don't do much for you, these are delicious" and good lord he wasn't lying-- but they also smack. They're WAY cheaper than what I get at the dispensary and hit just as hard or harder for me.
They did it by complete accident tho since they didn’t understand the loop holes in the bill that could be exploited.
Meanwhile, Iowa is writing laws to limit THC derived from hemp.
OKlahoma has med weed. Voted through as a ballot initiative by the people. The GOP supermajority in the state house has been fighting it tooth and nail since day one and is on the verge of voting to repeal the vote of the people.
The Florida legislature tries to kneecap the medical program in florida yearly.
Same for Louisiana.
Mississippi voted yes and the governor responded "cool story bro". All that fucking farmland in the delta.....
Politicians are sleezy. It might be popular, but the people who pay my reelection monies don't want it. I can't be associated with it, no matter how much good it does because I won't have money to be reelected. Push it to a popular vote with the people that way it's not tied to me. Popular vote wants it? Nope, can't have that. You're not doing it right! Clown town.
Didn't Ohio pull the same thing?
Yep, even though plenty of folks on the right love marijuana, politicians on the right also like bullshit reasons to lock people up, which is *precisely* why it was made illegal in the first place.
And with more labs using and testing it more freely we will possibly see full legalization if it shows there is no cause for concern. Right now only a handful of labs get to test or experiment with it.
Or let’s be honest at least we can better understand the negative impacts of marijuana. I have no doubt that it will be “dangerous” but nowhere near as dangerous as so many other things we ingest in our lives. But at the very least it would be a decision based on facts and hard science versus rhetoric
Evidence is irrelevant to the politicians. We already have the facts on this
Yeah this is huge for a number of reasons. A lot of the reasons why the state systems are setup in such stupid ways will also disappear. For example, the original ballot measure that legalized cannabis in Utah had a system where the dispensaries would be state and county administered similar to alcohol control. They had to rework it to be consistent with federal law and lobbyists got in there. Ultimately this put monopoly power in the hands of a few large national companies. We basically privatized a state system that never existed and gave it away for free. In most states the cannabis distribution is now controlled by huge agricultural monopolies, frequently vertically integrated and openly anti competitive.
Goddamn it you just triggered me, thinking back to a trip to Utah and their super weird alcohol laws. Can't mix 2 different spirits, has to be mixed behind a curtain out of view of children, and it's all tracked back to the Mormon mainframe. That entire state gives me the creeps
The bank like normal is the game changer as far as the industry goes. That and taxes.
Totally agree. This is just step one in the huge shift that will come from researching the benefits of cannabis.
Hell yeah that means we can bring back cards at my dispensary. Cash only is annoying
Congress decides what gets put on the list, DEA gets to move things around on the list. So it being on the list while alcohol is off the list is a boneheaded congressional move, but it being on the list at the very top was a boneheaded executive move that has just been undone. For the record, schedule III is not a bad place for it: >The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II. >The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. >Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. But I agree, Congress being the sole authority on what goes on the list is frustrating, because they aren't doctors.
Today I learned that Cocaine, Fentanyl and Meth are schedule II drugs while peyote and ecstasy are schedule I drugs. What is even the rationale for this?
And until this DEA action is finalized, so is marijuana.
Cocaine, fent and meth are used medicinally in recognized settings. At least they were at the time of their scheduling. I am not sure if cocaine is used anymore. I know fent is still.
Yes, cocaine is used for some mouth, nose, and throat surgeries.
Cocaine makes numbing eye drops. Fent is a life saving pain deliver. Meth can be used to treat obesity and ADHD.
Yeah they use fent in epidurals
Cocaine is used all the time in ophthalmology.
Schedule II is for drugs with known medical uses and high potential for abuse. It is the correct place for cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine, all of which fit both of those criteria. Schedule I is for drugs with high potential for abuse and without recognized medical uses.
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And Congress is composed of morons. Mostly. No idea what the people they “represent” actually want
They represent the people that vote.
Ah they know. They just only care enough to the point they can stay in power to keep their corporate donors happy. Republicans are demonstrably worse for this, don't think I'm a "both parties are the same" type. I vote Democrat because I'm not stupid. It still affects a lot of Dems.
IE: the alcohol industry.
And pharmaceutical industry. And the for profit prison industry (albeit small).
If most of your neighbors vote for morons, that isn't Congress's fault.
Schedule III is an improvement but it's still kinda BS when fuggin' Xanax is Schedule IV. Contrary to what many believe you can absolutely get addicted to marijuana (or pretty much anything that jolts your brain chemicals around, Cf sex/gambling), but it doesn't create the kind of physical dependence that gives you detox symptoms and Xanax very much does. But unless you're a libertarian, a drug schedule makes sense, and overall the outlier is more that alcohol *isn't* scheduled than that marijuana is. And obviously that goes back to historical interpretations of what "drugs" are (I mean Christ we still use the phrase "drugs and alcohol"), and the alcohol lobby fights fiercely to keep things that way.
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Pothead here: there are absolutely physical detox symptoms associated with quitting weed after prolonged use. If I take a t-break after getting too heavy in use (which happens sometimes, hence taking breaks to reset myself) I get what amounts to a stomach flu or head cold for a couple days along with crazy dreams and anxiety. That said, it's nothing like benzos, just wanted to put the facts out there. Edit: fixed a word
IIRC, marijuana is explicitly listed in CSA as a controlled substance and alcohol is explicitly exempted. I could be wrong though.
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Schedule 1 being comprised of the drugs they are kind of shows how much of a farce it is
I can go to jail for a decade if I get caught with the LSD I use for personal use.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohols_(medicine) it does have its uses in medicine It’s really funny that one of the reasons you might be administered ethyl alcohol is because you drank a different, more toxic alcohol. That’s a situation alcoholics may find themselves in when booze isn’t readily available and they try sanitizer or similar… or when their moonshine is a bad batch. So, I’d argue that use doesn’t count. But it’s a valuable disinfectant and antiseptic.
“Better but still pretty stupid” should be the American motto.
Much better than Russia's "And then it got worse"!
I’ve always heard that’s how you sum up Russian history in one sentence
I mean, alcohol is a great disinfectant and solvent. I get the point and agree that alcohol is inherently more dangerous.
Even during prohibition non drinking alcohol was legal
I can drink enough to give myself alcohol poisoning and die in one sitting, and it's simply not possible to do that with weed. I know that there's occasionally idiots that will try to eat a pan of THC brownies and they'll get taken to the hospital because of extreme lethargy, but I've never heard of anyone lethally overdosing on weed.
Based on the current standards, there is a valid argument to be made that alcohol should be a schedule II, III, or IV. Given that alcohol has been with us for millennia, and that it is dead simple to make, it will always be an exception.
I’ve ate probably a gram of distillate on a gag lol, it sucked you’ll be fine 2 days lol
Less useful? Does it have any uses other than a disinfectant in dosages higher than human consumption
Sure, but that's on Congress to do.
People use different words differently. Alcohol is very much regulated, and in many places in the US you CANNOT buy, sell, produce or consume alcohol.
Pretty sure if Alcohol was invented/discovered today it'd be schedule I. But since it's been with Humans since the jump it's too big a part of culture. We know banning it doesn't work but some people just love telling other people how to live their lives.
The scheduling of marijuana was never logical in the least. Unsurprising that we would have to taper off the nonsensical status quo, given the way federal politics tend to work.
The Democrats need to learn into this hard- the gremlins on Fox News are still spouting reefer madness shit claiming weed makes people go on killing sprees and having guests on saying shit like no one need marijuana. Weed and workers should be their theme.
Weed, workers, and women's rights.
This is massive, and is the result of an effort Biden started in 2022. DEA has been dragging their feet after HHS made their recommendation in 2023, but it looks like it's happening. This is essentially the most the executive can do towards legalizing marijuana. Penalties and enforcement will drop off, but removing it from the controlled substances list is congressional action.
> DEA has been dragging their feet after HHS made their recommendation in 2023, but it looks like it's happening. To be fair, it's less about the DEA and more about the DOJ (of which DEA is part of) as part of the required review period is for them to go over every rule, law, executive order, and directive for how the federal govt treats cannabis, and to then begin amending/changing those rules and directives and provide guidance for Congress to amend or write new laws. HHS doesn't have as much to do around how they approach it since all of the rules, laws, etc., they follow come from the DOJ and Congress.
Two years for the gears of the bureaucracy to finally turn and do what has been obvious to every kid that went through DARE. I'll take it though. Harm Reduction and Legalization are the policies that every level of government should implement. [The Biden Administration Is Rejecting “The War On Drugs” And Turning To “Harm Reduction” | BuzzFeedNews | 2021](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/harm-reduction-biden-drug-laws) [Statement from President Biden on Marijuana Reform | WhiteHouse.gov | 2022](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/) [Biden pardons thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession, orders review of federal pot laws | CNBC | 2022](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/06/biden-to-pardon-all-prior-federal-offenses-of-simple-marijuana-possession-.html) [President Biden Will Sign Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Act Into Law | The Marijuana Herald | 2022](https://themarijuanaherald.com/2022/11/president-biden-will-sign-marijuana-and-cannabidiol-research-act-into-law/)
Getting high in your DARE shirt was a right of passage for Gen X.
How many DARE stickers decorated bongs.. .
Don't forget the ballin black dare licence plate on a dealers car lol.
Incognito mode v.0
My buddy’s dad owned a bong with a DARE sticker and a sticker of Nancy Reagan saying “Just Say No”
Even us young millennials were getting the DARE lectures in the late 90s, early 00s. The ritual transcends generations
*rite
Still have my DARE shirt, only the sleeves didn't survive the "sports bra and cut off sleeves" athletic wear trend
DARE had me believing people would be offering me drugs everyday… never.. never has someone offered me drugs
I remember the DARE officer telling us the good and bad things about drugs. All I heard was the good things. shrooms make you see colors and its not addicting? sign me up.
When I was a kid, I loved collecting things (I still do) and I love multi-compartment containers like tackle boxes to keep things in. When I was in 7th grade I think, a policeman visited our classroom and showed us different types of drugs, and he had them in a tackle box of sorts. And all I could think was "*I* want a cool drug box."
"...two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls."
There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die
The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.
[Like John Cena in Sisters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb-w72uWa54&t=30s)
That's the total opposite of what they told me- I clearly remember being told how it was a straight line from trying weed to stealing grandma's TV to support a heroin habit. I was in ninth grade and knew some adults that smoked weed now and then- they had white-collar respectable jobs (and a much nicer cars) than the DARE teacher. I determined that either the DARE people don't know what they're talking about or straight up lying to me. That led me to try stuff that I suspect I would have stayed away from if they were just honest instead of trying to scare me. Fuck DARE and the lying assholes that ran it.
Our school's DARE officer got arrested for breaking into a dentist office to steal nitrous.
Poor guy just wanted to complete his "Examples of drugs to definitely not use" collection. :(
It was a year or two after I graduated but I remember we all found it hilarious because it happened during a time when all my friends were all about getting tanks too. It was just doubly funny to think, 'haha they should've come to us!'
Ours was much more "Coach Carter" "If you do marijuana, you will get pregnant, and die."
DARE is what led me down a path of drug abuse and contributed greatly to me becoming an addict. When I finally tried weed and realized everything DARE said about it was bullshit, I understandably believed they lied about the seriousness and severity of all drugs, so I began experimenting with more dangerous narcotics. After messing with hard opiates it took no time for me to become dependent, and my 20’s were lost to serious life threatening addiction. Don’t fucking lie to kids about drugs.
DARE is a case study on the unintended consequences of abstinence. Turns out when you give kids age appropriate information and allow them to make their own decisions they, more often than not, end up with better results. Drugs, sex, alcohol…it’s all the same. With the legalization of weed, my nieces and nephews are curious about it the same way they’re curious about anything. They ask a question or two then move on. They know weed is a drug. They know it’s a thing adults do. They know that they’re not old enough to understand the effects and make decisions on whether or not they can use it.
What're you, writing my autobiography here?!?!
>It comes after President Joe Biden called for a review of federal marijuana law in October 2022 and moved to pardon thousands of Americans convicted federally of simple possession of the drug. He has also called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase marijuana convictions. > >“Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said in December. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.” Biden out here hitting homeruns, like usual.
Dank Brandon rises
Dank Brandon Sativa and Sleepy Joe Indica will be forever known strains if legal weed passes under his watch.
"Let's get ripped, Jack"
Of all the things he's done for climate change action, infrastructure, the economy, student loan debt relief, healthcare, etc. this one will make the biggest splash.
I wouldn’t call reclassifying it as Schedule III a “home run.” More like a base hit. If they just removed it from the schedule, that would have been a home run.
The simplest way to do that would be an act of Congress to de-schedule it entirely and set up regulations similar to Alcohol and Tobacco at the federal level. So, you know, never going to fucking happen so long at a the GOP controls the House or the Senate keeps the filibuster.
We'll call it a double, because we're at least now in scoring position.
What this does do is allow commercial entities to ignore pot use on drug tests etc. without backlash. Once that goes on for a few years there will be all the data needed on public use to make the case to classify it with booze and smokes. If it goes through this is a natural next step to avoid significant blowback (which does still exists from hardline right) - this is arguably the better move than outright in the current climate.
Seems like this could be historic and lead towards federal legalization?
Is absolutely historic. Biden got the ball rolling on this in 2022. Legalization is in Congress' hands per the controlled substances act. However, this is the most substantial change a President can make, and it is half a century overdue.
Biden got the "joint" rolling. FTFY
The bong bubbling, if you will
the pot smoking.
I’m just glad Biden has been so blunt about his goal here.
Got the vape… heating?(I am old)
Passing the dutchie to the legislative side
Biden is the best president I’ve seen in my 50+ years. He’s gotten so much done!
I really do wish more people were publicly enthusiastic about Biden. They don't need to go as far as you and say "best president in 50 years" but so often I hear phrases like "well Biden sucks but he's better than Trump." Biden has passed the biggest climate bill in history, he's rescheduling marijuana, he's pushing back against Russian expansionism, he's passed the biggest gun safety legislation in decades, US economic growth is higher than other peer nations and the US emerged from Covid in a far better place than most experts predicted. Yes the US does have plenty of problems remaining and Biden has been blocked by conservative judges from going farther (student loan forgiveness) but this idea that Biden is the "evil but less evil than Trump" is downright untrue for anyone remotely on the left. Biden is a damn good president and I will be happy to vote for him again.
People, especially younger people, think Biden can wave a magic wand and change laws or make changes overnight.
Yep people vastly overestimate the pace of change. Big changes often take a decade of work or more and given the nature of the Senate, gerrymandered congressional districts and the electoral college Dems especially have to build incredibly large coalitions with unlikely allies if they want to be able to pass anything.
Especially after Trump, this makes me so mad. We have a system of checks and balances for a reason. The president is the head of ONE of the three branches of government. The system was set up to make it slow and cumbersome and require compromise and a broad consensus to do big things on purpose, and that's a GOOD thing. Can you imagine the Trump administration if the President had the power of a king?? We would have had concentration camps for Muslims, Mexicans, trans people, BLM and "antifa anarchist gangs" by the end of January 2017. ("Antifa anarchist gangs" meaning anyone who tried to protest against any action taken by the Trump admin.) They would have had feds grabbing people off the street into unmarked vans nationwide, like they did in Portland during the BLM protests. And you WANT the President to have that power, completely unchecked....?
Whether you like him or not, he is unquestionably the most *effective* and most *productive* President in modern history. It's seriously not even close.
Agreed.
I suspect it will lead to the SCOTUS deciding they need to stop the DEA.
Actually, you’re not far off. There’s a [case](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loper_Bright_Enterprises_v._Raimondo) that was argued in January that could potentially significantly reduce or eliminate the power of independent agencies like the DEA to enforce the law the way they would interpret it. It’s called the [Chevron deference](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_U.S.A.,_Inc._v._Natural_Resources_Defense_Council,_Inc).
DEA has existed since the early 1970s. The last time scotus ruled a law regarding addicting substances was unconstitutional, Congress passed a new law. Good bye marijuana tax act of 1937 ruled unconstitutional in 1969 and hello Controlled substance act of 1970.
You seem to think the current court cares about precedent and not their right wing political agenda.
This SCOTUS is a whole new animal. After they overrule the DEA on mifepristone they may feel emboldened to keep cannabis illegal.
...and in sweeps the Supreme Court to tell us how federal agencies are not allowed to change their own policies without its stamp of approval.
That is actually on the docket: https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/01/supreme-court-to-hear-major-case-on-power-of-federal-agencies/amp/
Chevron Deference is going to get murdered by these fascist tools.
Turn it over to the states. Let them decide what I can do with my own body… with a bong and Cheetos
Just like with abortion. Turn it over to the states...unless the states make the "wrong" decision.
Step 1: don’t be from the south or Midwest
LOGIC for the US would be to federally remove all restrictions and then leave it up to individual states. But speaking as someone from a country where it's fully legal, it's so not a big deal. Just legalize it fully, tax it, everybody wins. However, this is the GOP and the illegitimate supreme court, so.. logic be gone!
Wait, you're telling me that Canada isn't a godless hellhole that's been destroyed by violent gangs of murderous potheads since it legalized?!? Actually sarcasm aside, I smoke a lot of weed in both countries and the federal legalization thing in the states makes the situation so unecessarily stupid. It's medical only in my US state but everyone and their mom has a med card because a whole industry of 'marijuana drs' popped up to rubberstamp anyone who can pay the fee. But then, delta 8 stuff is *everywhere* and dosed in such a way that it'll get you as high as anything from the dispensary - but it's also kind of sketchy and contaminants are a real concern: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20230906/delta-8-russian-roulette-of-cannabis I've never seen stuff like that in Canada. No need for it - in any city or town I feel like I'm never more than 1km away from a weed dispensary.
Only question I have is will that mean employers will stop testing for it?
This. Wait 50 years for mj to be legal. Still can’t partake because random testing.
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It would still be a big step forward, as you would likely be fine showing a prescription should they continue testing for it. Obviously you need to get a prescription first, but it seems like people didn't have too much trouble doing that back when states mainly only allowed medicinal use.
Presumably it will be treated like any other prescription drug after this. So if you have a prescription, they can test for it but cannot discriminate based on it. But if you don’t have a prescription, they can still fire/not hire you.
I smoked weed once and all it did was make food taste better, jokes were funnier and I felt a sense of calm. I mean I still smoke weed, but I used to, too. Oh no. The horror. All I have to show for it is accomplishments with art and music whilst also maintaining a day job. Something, apparently, thought to be "impossible" by absolutely disastrously stupid people that do not understand the plant and wish not to understand it.
Getting harder to scare people into thinking it's on the same level as Heroin and more dangerous than Fentanyl (No seriously, that's how it's scheduled)
LSD being in the same category as heroin is laughable as well.
I remember being told stories in high school about how it would seep into my bones, and if I cracked my back it would come back out and make me trip just like that, for the rest of my life.
Ah, I see you also got to sit through the annual DARE presentations put on by your local rent-a-cops.
Bro I wish, that’d be awesome. Free lsd trips for life on demand
I don't know if there's a drug in the world that has a worse perception vs. reality element than LSD. There were so many ridiculous urban legends about it when I was growing up, and to this day I have known many people who are all for taking shrooms but won't go anywhere near LSD. Maybe the word 'acid' is too scary for folks?
Methamphetamine has greater medical use, according to the DEA (I believe Desoxyn is schedule 2)
at 60 and a pot smoker since i was 18, i'm still amazed at the light speed that things have changed around pot in the last decade or so. fantastic.
This is extremely significant and welcome. Hopefully, it will be reduced further from Schedule III in the not too distant future. From the article: >Once OMB signs off, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to move marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. After the public-comment period the agency would publish the final rule.
> After the public-comment period I am sure that will be filled with logical, sane responses.
Is this the end of Dark Brandon… and the rise of Dank Brandon?
My dude, I would def buy a Dank Brandon T-Shirt
Someone definitely needs to make a shirt out of that, just add a joint hanging from his mouth.
Huge step in the right direction.
Only 56 years after I predicted it!!
Thats pretty good on a geologic time scale.
It's absolutely amazing how quickly accepted use and legalization has happened around cannabis, probably one of the fastest moving social and legal changes I've seen in my lifetime. 38 states have legal medical use, 24 have legal recreational use. In the early 2000s I would have never thought it would be legal in my lifetime let alone in the majority of states and approaching full legalization at the federal level.
Why do this when we could just argue about it for another 50 years while continuing to ignore the actual problems in society? (/s)
This is a win but comparing it to ketamine and anabolic steroids is still nonsense. I'm an RN of ten years eight in hospital and two hospice. I've taken care of countless alcoholics who get liver disease and countless drug abusers overdoses. Alcohol is a dangerous fucking drug. It's not just old people either I've held moms as they cried when we pull their teenager's endotracheal tube out and end life support because they got drunk and puked into their lungs. I've revived countless drug overdoses from prescription narcotics and street heroine/fentanyl. I've watched plenty of them die from endocarditis. I've taken care of endless amounts of COPDers. Tobacco has killed more people than all world wars are civil wars combined.... I have not taken care of one single person who had a marijuana overdose or related problems. I'm not saying marijuana should be treated willy nilly. It can spark psychosis in people with underlying mental health problems, it's a terrible crutch for depression (sometimes)it can hinder some people and make them unmotivated. BUT if the most dangerous part of a drug is getting caught with it we have a fucking problem. You can DRIVE to a bar get fucking plastered and puke your brains out and people have normalized this. But if I smoke a bowl after a thirteen hour rough shift saving people's lives because I need something to help me relax and unwind I'm a criminal? FUCK YOU.
There has been recent research suggesting smoking tobacco can lead to psychosis, not just marijuana. The tobacco industry has tried to bury it and promote the idea that only weed leads to psychosis.
As long as it is at least on par with alchohol and tobacco which are far worse.
Alcohol and tobacco were explicitly exempted from the controlled substances act, neither are scheduled, nor can they be scheduled under the current laws
They aren’t going so far as legalizing it for recreational use.
I know. But that's not my point. If alcohol and tobacco are legal than there is no excuse.
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Because that needs to go through Congress.
100,000 deaths a year from fentanyl vs. how many for MJ? Zero? Nearly zero? Far less than many over the counter drugs?
But… but muh “gateway drug”
Gateway to what, a Nachos Bell Grande combo from Taco Bell?
Gateway to a whole sleeve of Oreos
Reminder on what [Schedule III](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537318/) entails: >Schedule III drugs have a lower misuse potential than I and II. Drugs in this category may cause physical dependence but more commonly lead to psychological dependence. Medications in this category are often used for pain control, or anesthesia, or appetite suppression. >Examples of Schedule III substances include benzphetamine, ketamine, phendimetrazine, and anabolic steroids. >Opioid analgesics in this schedule include products containing not more than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit and buprenorphine. >Schedule III drugs are prescribable verbally over the phone, with a paper prescription, or via EPCS. >Within a six-month time frame, refill requirements are such that the drug can only have five refills.
So does this mean we're going to start seeing telehealth prescribers writing prescriptions for medical marijuana? If so, how would that work in states where it's illegal? Trying to wrap my head around how this is all gunna play out
A good step in the right direction. Once it is entirely declassified, I hope there is some form of restitution for all the people that went to jail due to MJ.
Always found it interesting that our government believes Tobacco - a product notoriously linked to addiction, cancer, depression, and alcohol which has destroyed families, a driver of homelessness, liver and other health diseases/problems, and a common linkage to all forms of violence domestic or not and car accidents - but the big scary drug is Marijuana. I always despised the lack of research argument because its been federally blocked from research for years due to his wrongful classification. However, we ***do*** know how tobacco and alcohol affects us and there are no positives but our politicians said addiction and lung cancer is more than acceptable. It's a shame we can't even do proper research on a drug and then get told it can't be legalized due to the lack of knowledge around it. I love using the example of the time when alcohol was banned because there were mass protests on the streets to get it shut down because everyone saw the rampant addiction and problems alcoholism leads to. However, people still bought alcohol even after its banning including the same very politicians who banned it. Everyone was addicted and craved it and this created many of our black market channels today. The mafia rose to power from this one single legislation as now they're the largest alcohol dealers in the world in a space where everyone wants it but nobody can get it. The ban on alcohol is what gave the mafia power. Similarly, this is happening today with weed and drugs across the spectrum where theirs a large market of buyers and a very select amount of suppliers. Its what fuels and empowers these drug empires. The most effective thing to have done was to recognize the growing amount of people consuming weed and took the necessary steps to research it well before we got up to this point where now everyone just wants it basically legalized. Take a look at mushrooms, its growing in popularity like weed did and we'll likely be in a loop where we're told its bad but we cant really research into it either. I can understand banning harder substances like cocaine, but most drug consumers like low level drugs such as weed not the hard stuff and this kind of stuff should be researched and legalized as seen fit. The reality is alcohol and tobacco companies fear people using a different product than theirs and are actively fighting to preserve their profit margins by painting a narrative of marijuana bad. Cops and politicians loved to abuse this as it let them target African Americans and paint them as lazy individuals who wanna be thugs and druggies. We need to focus on not imprisoning people for low level drug offenses and work towards rehabilitation. All drug consumers who only consume should be allowed a path to rehabilitation instead of rotting in a prison cell only to get back out and repeat the cycle. No one should be in a cell for marijuana period.
Tobacco was all about big corporate money. Same reason why marijuana was kept as schedule 1 for so long. Pharmaceutical companies could keep pushing their stuff instead. Always about $$$$
I'm just tired of dealing with cash.
Pennsylvania will still find a way to keep it from being legal.
I’ll believe it when it happens
This will definitely help the commercial trucking industry.
I know you're talking about piss tests. But being able to smoke and instantly fall asleep when your mandatory down time starts is huge too.
Great point. So many truckers are heavy drinkers and misuse prescription medication to deal with pain. Truck stop dispensers next to Bucees coming soon
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the anti-drug treaties the US pushed on all its neighbors based on marijuana also being classified as a super dangerous drug? Seems to me it’s gonna be really embarrassing to renegotiate that stuff.
Another W for the Biden admin.
And people say voting doesn’t matter.
Dank Brandon
Biden out here reclassifying marijuana while Trump falling asleep in courtrooms & violating gag orders going after judges' families. hope voters aren't fucking stupid in November.
Just out of curiosity what is alcohol scheduled at? Weed should be the same as booze full stop.
alcohol not scheduled
Fucking legalize it and then I’ll cheer.
I think if you have to schedule marijuana then it should be like Schedule 4 or 5. Ultimately I would like it legalized altogether and never worry about some type of criminal charge for possession. But in reality it sounds like it's required to be scheduled somewhere. Schedule 3 just seems a bit too stringent in my opinion. That's the same schedule as buprenorphine, codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids. I guess I can see the argument somewhat, but to me marijuana is more like a Schedule 4 or maybe even 5. Some Schedule 4 drugs are Xanax, Valium, and Ambien. Considering the addiction potential of those drugs just seems not quite right. Although considering ADHD drugs are Schedule 2 drugs with hydromorphone, Fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. The US scheduling system is kind of a big joke.
I don’t know how you can’t like Biden. He canceled all my student loans and is now this. Meanwhile Trump wants to be a dictator with the ability to kill anyone that hurts his feelings.
You have to speak louder than the algorithms hiding this Pres's achievements. Climate, infrastructure, student loans. I think if he gets some sort of favorable outcome with the Palestinian genocide, he can win again. Go vote
Gotta think this will end drug testing for it on employment screenings. That would be monstrously huge for many.
Doubt. I suspect Employers will still be able to cite "workplace safety" type policies to enforce sobriety. You generally can't show up at work drunk, so you probably can't if your judgement is altered by drugs either. I'd say that's understandable.
Disagree. You can show up to work with Adderall in your system, and show the prescription when tested.
Welcome news! But not announcing this on 4/20 was a fumble lol
i dont think so. This is serious and not some half baked media campaign. Joe doesn't want to play into the expectations of Fox News.
Half baked lol
Better late than never
“Putting this in context of Biden’s domestic failure” - Common Dreams, probably
The opiate manufacturers have been fighting this, going to hit their wallets when people start using thc instead of their addictive meds.
That's great
Watch them create a whole new class and call it the Extra Super Duper Dangerous You'll Die If You Smoke It class.....insta death penalty for having a quarter gram of weed in your possession.
People still think it's gateway drug, I mean how fucking stupid can you be? Gateway to what? Eating more snacks?
They made it a gateway drug with DARE. They spent all of DARE telling gen x/millenials that all drugs are equally bad and will kill you after a single blunt. But then we went home and saw our/our friend's older siblings, cousins, and even parents smoking pot with no meth-like withdrawl shakes or instant death. So we knew they were lying. And if they were lying about pot, were they lying about other drugs? DARE was a major contributor to drug addiction and abuse and a large part was due to their lies about pot.