President Joe Biden's promise to decriminalize marijuana moved forward in 2023, but awaits the U.S. Justice Department's review.
Federal law currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances, including heroin and LSD.
In August 2023, the federal Department of Health and Human Services recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration reschedule cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
Schedule 3 would put marijuana on par with some doses of codeine, ketamine, and anabolic steroids.
In January, Health and Human Services released a 252-page, unredacted copy of its recommendation in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The document publicly acknowledged cannabis as having an accepted medical use and relatively low potential for abuse. The department's recommendation followed Biden's direction in October 2022 to the attorney general and Health and Human Services secretary to "expeditiously" initiate the administrative process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.
Biden also said he would pardon anyone with a federal conviction of simple possession of marijuana. Federal officials told reporters at the time that no Americans were currently serving time in prison solely on a federal simple marijuana possession charge.
A Justice Department spokesperson told PolitiFact that it had received Health and Human Services' recommendation and "it's under review."
There is no mandated timeline for the federal government to act and historically the Drug Enforcement Administration has taken years to do so, Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a group that advocates for descheduling marijuana, told PolitiFact.
Armentano said moving cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 will not fulfill the promise of "decriminalizing" it.
"It would simply regulate cannabis like ketamine rather than like heroin," he said.
Schedule 3 substances are subject to uniform federal rules (the substances are legally available only by prescription from a licensed pharmacy), so changing marijuana's classification would not eliminate conflicting state and federal laws and policies, he said.
We will revisit this promise when the Justice Department announces a recommendation, but for now it remains In the Works.
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