Tag Archives: marijuana rescheduling

Pot Good, Fentanyl Very Bad – Update for December 23, 2025

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

TRUMP DOES THE ‘WEAVE’ ON DRUG CRIMES

President Trump is proud of “the weave,” that oratorical puzzlement that sounds to some like Grandpa forgot to take his meds. Last week, Trump tried it on drug policy.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order declaring fentanyl and its precursors  as “weapons of mass destruction.” Three days later, he signed another order directing federal agencies to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III rather than Schedule I.

The fentanyl executive order instructs federal agencies, including the Depts of Justice, State, Treasury and Defense, to pursue fentanyl-related crimes more aggressively and to explore military cooperation with civilian law enforcement.

The Atlantic last week reported that while the

WMD designation may not have immediate legal implications for Trump’s military powers, it could potentially change how domestic drug cases are prosecuted. The use of a WMD against people or property in the U.S. carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; if someone dies, prosecutors can argue for the death penalty… That could impose a life sentence on any person who uses drugs laced with illicitly manufactured fentanyl, or anyone who gives drugs laced with illicitly manufactured fentanyl to their friend. As of now, the Trump administration has offered no guidance on how this might play out.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that the Trump administration’s fentanyl seizures had saved the lives of 258 million Americans — three-quarters of the population of the entire country. However, in September, Trump claimed that “300 million people died … from drugs” in 2024, which would be almost the entire US population, and about five times as many people as died that year from anything anywhere in the world. In fact, CDC numbers show that fentanyl was involved in 42,233 deaths between April 2024 and April 2025.

Drug defendants with fentanyl in their cases probably should not expect any break from this Administration any time soon.

A different story has played out on marijuana, although Trump’s executive order issued last Thursday on weed changes more for the cannabis industry’s bottom line than the architecture of prohibition.

Under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is currently placed in Schedule I, a category reserved for substances deemed to have “no currently accepted medical use.” That’s the most restrictive controlled substance category — more serious than where fentanyl is scheduled — and clearly at odds with at least 40 states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Trump’s executive order on Thursday prompts the Justice Department to hasten the rescheduling of marijuana as a Schedule III drug, alongside common prescription medications like Tylenol with codeine.

The Biden administration began rescheduling in the fall of 2022, but left the matter unfinished despite its promise to get it done. Trump’s order — which directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to hasten the process of loosening federal restrictions but does not include a timeline — comes after an intensive lobbying campaign from cannabis business interests.

Although the Wall Street Journal complained that by his executive order, Trump is going “for the Stoner Vote,” the President was lobbied hard by the commercial cannabis industry for the change, due to the banking and tax relief such a reclassification will bring to the business. “I’ve never been inundated by so many people as I have about this particular reclassification,” Trump said.

While Schedule III drugs can legally be prescribed, they still require Food and Drug Administration approval, which marijuana lacks. While, in theory, the order could reduce or eliminate some federal criminal penalties, statutory mandatory minimums would remain unchanged unless Congress amends 21 USC §§ 841 and 960. It is possible that some Sentencing Guidelines would change, but any such modification is several years off and would have to undergo an additional proceeding to become retroactive.

Even under §§ 841 and 960 as now written, federal prosecutors have not prioritized marijuana cases in recent years, especially regarding state-level approved marijuana commerce. As of January 2022, no one in federal prison was doing time solely for simple marijuana possession. Marijuana trafficking cases are down 58% since 2020, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

What might this mean for 18 USC § 922(g)(3), which prohibits users of unlawful drugs from possessing guns? One firearms trade group has reminded its members that “state legalization of marijuana similarly has no effect on legality under 18 USC § 922(g)(3), and possession by a purchaser of a state medical marijuana card should be taken as evidence of unlawful use.”

What’s more, Trump taking a more accepting stance toward marijuana could prompt Congress to revisit the Controlled Substances Act, either by amending it to exempt state-level marijuana legalization regimes or by de-scheduling the drug from federal regulation altogether.

Trump’s order could also impact United States v. Hemani, currently pending in the Supreme Court. Hemani was convicted of a § 922(g)(3) offense, and SCOTUS has been asked to rule on whether disarming marijuana users complies with the 2nd Amendment. A decision is expected by June 2026.

Executive Order, Designating Fentanyl As A Weapon Of Mass Destruction (December 15, 2025)

Executive Order, Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research (December 18, 2025)

The Atlantic, The New ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’ (December 16, 2025)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts (September 17, 2025)

U.S. Sentencing Commission, Quick Facts – Marijuana Trafficking (FY 2024) (May 2025)

Roll Call, Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters Before Air Force One Departure – September 14, 2025 

The Hill, Trump signs executive order to expedite marijuana rescheduling (December 18, 2025)

CNN, Trump signs executive order expediting marijuana reclassification after lobbying from cannabis industry (December 18, 2025)

The Reload, Analysis: Trump’s Marijuana Moves Unlikely to Immediately Impact Gun Owners (December 21, 2025)

~ Thomas  L. Root

Trump Rumored to Plan Marijuana Rescheduling – Update for December 15, 2025

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

TRUMP TO LOOSEN POT SCHEDULING?

You may recall that President Joe Biden made a big deal about rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III. This de-escalation of weed would have loosened a lot of the Controlled Substances Act restrictions and might have led to changes in mandatory minimum sentences and easing of marijuana Guidelines.

Biden didn’t get it done by the end of 2024 as promised, and his departure from the White House seemed to have brought the effort to a standstill.

President Trump ruminated about easing pot regulation this past summer. Late last week, rumors exploded in Washington that President Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as today that would allow for reclassification of marijuana, a White House official (who remained anonymous because he was not authorized to speak about it) told reporters.

Trump is expected to push the government to reduce regulation of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs, the Washington Post reported. The anticipated executive order is expected to direct federal agencies to pursue reclassification, the people said.

Reclassification will not decriminalize marijuana, but it would ease barriers to research and may drive Congress and the Sentencing Commission to reconsider sentence levels for the drug.

Although the President cannot reclassify pot by executive order, he can direct the Dept. of Justice to cancel a pending administrative hearing and issue the final rule.

The Post said that in a call last Wednesday between Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Johnson expressed skepticism about the plan, but Trump “ended the call appearing ready to go ahead.”

CNBC, Trump expected to sign executive order to reclassify marijuana as soon as Monday, source tells CNBC; pot stocks surge (December 12, 2025)

Washington Post, Trump seeks to cut restrictions on marijuana through planned order (December 11, 2025)

~ Thomas L. Root

Of Fraud and Weed – Update for August 22, 2025

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

Summer is ending with back-to-school, football, and cooler days upon us. In commemoration of a short summer, I am condensing a surprising amount of news from last week into ‘shorts’.


LEGISLATIVE ‘SHORTS’

Easing Up on Fraud Guidelines? Law360 reported last week on the U.S. Sentencing Commission interest in modifying the 2B1.1 theft/fraud guidelines.

The USSC said it will consider Guideline reforms to the outsized role of loss calculation in driving the Guidelines advisory sentencing range, one of several priorities the agency has marked for closer examination.

The examination includes a reassessment of the role of actual loss, intended loss and gain in guidelines calculation, and whether the fraud guidelines as they stand “appropriately reflect the culpability of a defendant and harm to victims.”

Also on the table are whether to adjust the applicable loss guidelines for inflation and adjust for the role the defendant played in the crime, including minor roles and those who abuse positions of trust.

Law360, Sentencing Commission Plans To Reassess Fraud Guidelines(August 7, 2025)

More on Rescheduling Marijuana: After telling donors earlier this month that he was considering rescheduling marijuana, President Trump said at an August 11th press conference, “We’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over, I’d say, the next few weeks,” The Hill reported.

The Biden administration had sought to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to the lesser Schedule III but left the process unfinished. The move would bring negligible changes in criminal justice reform but may pave the way for legislative or guidelines reform.

The Hill reported that Adam Smith, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said the Biden rescheduling effort stalled due to a resistant DEA.

The Dept of Health and Human Services recommended in 2023 that marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug, one that has a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

The Hill, Trump signals push to finish Biden’s marijuana reform (August 15, 2025)

The Hill, Trump admin may reclassify marijuana: Would that make it legal in the US? (August 12, 2025)

~ Thomas L. Root


 

Everybody’s for Pot – Update for September 16, 2024

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

FEDERAL MARIJUANA REFORM GAINS TRACTION

marijuana160818Donald Trump last week signaled support for a federal policy shift to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, putting his position in line with that of his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

Unlike Harris, Trump has not gone so far as to endorse repealing federal pot prohibition, a move that voters overwhelmingly favor. But his statements on marijuana reform suggest he recognizes the political potency of this issue.

According to the US Cannabis Council, this marks the first time that both major-party presidential candidates have supported broad cannabis reform.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, posted on his social media platform last week that “I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use… We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults to safe, tested product.”

Trump also has said he supports the Biden administration’s plan to move marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) – the most restrictive category – to Schedule III, which includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, Tylenol with codeine, and anabolic steroids. “As President,” Trump wrote, “we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana [as] a Schedule 3 drug.”

That reclassification would facilitate cannabis research and be a financial boon to the cannabis industry. However, the sale of marijuana would remain a criminal offense under the CSA.

marijuana221111When Biden proposed rescheduling in October 2022, he promised to complete the job by the end of 2024. Two weeks ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it would hold a public hearing on the marijuana rescheduling ion December 2. That makes completing the rescheduling before 2025 unlikely.

Last week, The Last Prisoner Project and bipartisan 420 Unity Coalition partners launched the #Countdown4Clemency campaign, calling on Biden to commute the sentences of an estimated 3,000 prisoners doing time for marijuana convictions.

“Time is running out on President Biden’s term, but it is not too late for him to undo the harms inflicted on families impacted by cannabis criminalization,” LPP Executive Director Sarah Gersten said. “With his clemency powers, the president has the opportunity to right history and restore justice by fulfilling his promise that no one should be in jail for cannabis.”

Associated Press, Trump signals support for reclassifying pot as a less dangerous drug, in line with Harris’ position (September 9, 2024)

Reason, Trump Endorses Federal Marijuana Reforms and Reiterates His Support for Legalizing Pot in Florida (September 9, 2024)

#Countdown4Clemency Campaign Calls on Biden to Keep Promise, Free 3,000 People Incarcerated for Cannabis (September 10, 2024)

Federal Register, Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana (89 FR 70148, August 29, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

One Toke Over The Line, Sweet Jesus! – Update for May 17, 2024

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

DOJ PROPOSES RESCHEDULING MARIJUANA

onetoke240517If you remember Brewer & Shipley’s 1970 unlikely hit, “One Toke Over the Line” – a song conceived and written in a pot-induced fog – you were probably not there to hear it. The song became so popular that even Lawrence Welk – who reportedly didn’t know what a ‘toke’ was – had his in-house singers cover the hit on his show.

The Dept of Justice yesterday proposed changing the classification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug–that is, one with no medical use and a high potential for abuse–to a Schedule III substance–one with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.

In a document known as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the DOJ suggests moving pot from a classification shared with heroin, MDMA and LSD, to one containing medically useful substances like Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

marijuanahell190918The proposed rule, to be published in the Federal Register, “recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs,” according to the Associated Press. A 60-day public comment period will begin after the NPRM is published, along with a review of the proposed regulatory reforms by a Drug Enforcement Administration administrative law judge. In all likelihood, a final rule will be pushed out by the Administration before the November election.

The proposal would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use nor does it directly affect criminal statutes or people serving federal sentences for marijuana cultivation or distribution. Nevertheless, it is likely an incremental step toward making changes in marijuana Sentencing Guidelines and scheduling in the penalties sections of 21 USC 841(b)(1)(A) and (B).

The DOJ proposal comes on the heels of a Dept of Health and Human Services Department review of marijuana scheduling, begun at the urging of President Joe Biden in October 2022.

Biden posted a video on the X (formerly known as Twitter) in which he said the proposal to move pot to Schedule III constitutes “an important move towards reversing longstanding inequities.”

marijuana221111“Today’s announcement builds on the work we’ve already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana,” the president said. “Look, folks, no one should be in jail for merely using or possessing marijuana. Period… Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana and I’m committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”

Writing in Reason, C.J. Ciaramella said

On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden promised to ‘decriminalize the use of cannabis,’ but despite lamenting the injustices of marijuana convictions and the barriers they create, and despite the continuing collapse of public support for marijuana prohibition, Biden still opposes full-scale legalization. Instead, his administration has focused on mass pardons and other measures that largely leave those injustices in place… But even getting the DEA to acknowledge that marijuana is not a drug on par with LSD and heroin is a victory of sorts.

While encouraged by the DOJ action, Cynthia W. Roseberry, director of policy and government affairs at the ACLU’s Justice Division, cautioned, “The rescheduling does not end criminal penalties for marijuana or help the people currently serving sentences for marijuana offenses. It is time for the federal government to further reduce prosecution of marijuana and instead put more resources towards investments that help communities thrive.”

Associated Press, Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift (May 16, 2024)

Reason, DEA Moves To Reclassify Marijuana as a Schedule III Drug (May 16, 2024)

ACLU, ACLU Applauds President Biden’s Announcement to Reclassify Marijuana, Calls for More Reform (May 16, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

Does Biden Overpromise, Underdeliver on Marijuana Reform? – Update for March 11, 2024

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BIDEN PROMISES ON MARIJUANA HAVE SKEPTICS

marijuana221111Marijuana reform got some billing in President Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) speech last Thursday, as he highlighted (and perhaps overstated) his Administration’s actions toward pot reform.

Biden noted that he has “direct[ed] my Cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana” – an action begun in October 2022 and to be completed by the end of this year – and he claimed he is “expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession because no one should be jailed for simply using or having it on their record.”

The sweep of Biden’s pardons is debatable. “While the pardons have symbolically forgiven convictions, they did not eliminate criminal records entirely,” the Green Mountain Report observed last week. “Additionally, these pardons have not impacted individuals currently serving sentences in federal prisons for marijuana-related offenses that exceed simple possession.”

“Biden made two promises on marijuana reform on the 2020 campaign trail—to decriminalize marijuana use and expunge records—and he has failed to deliver either,” Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a Friday response the SOTU. “Biden’s pardons haven’t released anyone from prison or expunged anyone’s records.”

potscooby180713Reason magazine noted last week that “in 1972, the same year that Biden was elected to his first term in the US Senate, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse recommended decriminalization of marijuana possession for personal use. It also recommended that “casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration, no longer be an offense.”

Fifty-two years later, we’re getting there but slowly. Federal marijuana trafficking cases declined yet again in 2023 as more states legalized the leaf, according to the USSC 2023 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, published last Tuesday. This continues a decade-long trend of pot prosecutions “dropping precipitously amid the state-level reform push and shifting federal enforcement priorities,” Reason said. In 2013, the Feds reported 5,000 cannabis-related prosecutions. Last year, there were under 800.

Last week, The Hill reported on a Pew Research Center finding that more than half of Americans live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal. A full 74% of Americans live in a state where marijuana is legal for medical use.

mcconnell180219Also last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced he is stepping down from his leadership post in November. McConnell has earned a reputation as an anti-drug senator, despite his work pushing the First Step Act through the Senate and the legalization of hemp in the 2018 farm bill. He has been firmly opposed to even modest marijuana reform. Because the minority leader will run the Senate if his party flips the 51-49 chamber to a Republican majority, the person occupying that position is a hair’s breadth from being able to control what drug reform bills the Senate will take up.

Marijuana Moment, Biden Promotes Marijuana Reform In State (March 7, 2024)

Green Market Report, Biden touts cannabis policy changes in State of the Union (March 8, 2024)

Drug Policy Alliance, The Drug Policy Alliance Responds To The 2024 State Of The Union Address (March 8, 2024)

Reason, Biden’s Inaccurate and Inadequate Lip Service to Marijuana Reform Ignores Today’s Central Cannabis Issue (March 8, 2024)

US Sentencing Commission, 2023 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics (March 5, 2024

The Hill, 79% of Americans live in a county with legal cannabis dispensary: report (March 4, 2024)

Marijuana Moment, Is Mitch McConnell Stepping Down Good For Marijuana Reform? It Depends Who Replaces Him (March 5, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

Drug Pushers: Advocates Press Biden On Marijuana Reform – Update for March 1, 2024

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THE POT PLOT THICKENS

marijuana160818Marijuana advocates last week argued that President Biden is missing an opportunity to sway young voters with his reluctance to take bigger steps to legalize marijuana at the federal level.

The Biden administration has pardoned people convicted of federal simple possession and started a process that may lead to rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. Biden has promised to deliver the rescheduling decision by the end of the year.

However, Biden’s efforts so far have left advocates unimpressed, The Hill reported last week, with the buzz being that he is “falling short of his 2020 campaign promises and failing to address the disparate overcriminalization of the drug that has unduly impacted minority communities.”

Progressives in the Senate are urging Biden to completely deschedule pot, which would effectively decriminalize it federally. “Marijuana’s placement in the [CSA] has had a devastating impact on our communities and is increasingly out of step with state law and public opinion,” twelve Democratic lawmakers wrote to the DEA last month.

And they’re not the only ones. Last week, former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, now a marijuana advocate and entrepreneur, sent Biden a letter calling on the Administration to reconcile with communities, including the poor and minorities, who have paid the heavy cost of the War on Drugs.

marijuanahell190918“I write in support of granting clemency to marijuana offenders still incarcerated in federal prison and restoring civil rights to those haunted by a federal marijuana conviction,” the Tyson letter began. “Through a categorical clemency grant you can declare an end to federal warfare on our own people and mark a new era based on peace and prosperity.”

Public opinion is strongly in favor of marijuana legalization. A Gallup poll from November found a record 70 percent of Americans believed marijuana should be legal.

Presidential candidate Trump’s exact stance on pot seems to flip-flop and remain ambiguous. He appointed marijuana-hating Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III as his first Attorney General, but then signed the First Step Act (which he now loves or hates on alternate days).

Biden has not pivoted as dramatically as he claims to have done on marijuana reform. One commentator says, “The people who argue that Biden is “responsible for the most significant marijuana reform in American history”… are right. The people who argue that Biden hasn’t done nearly enough on marijuana reform are also right.”

The Hill, Biden missing opportunity on legalizing marijuana, advocates warn (February 23, 2024)

The Guardian, Mike Tyson urges Biden to free thousands locked up over cannabis: ‘Right these wrongs’ (February 19, 2024)

Harris Sliwoski, Grading the Presidential Candidates on Cannabis (February 20, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

Congress Is Back In Town… Little Has Changed – Update for September 12, 2023

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

THEY’RE B-A-A-A-CK

Congress returned last week after its long August recess, ready to dig in and work on anything other than criminal justice reform.

equal220812

Last week, the right-of-center Americans For Tax Reform wrote all members of Congress urging passage of the EQUAL Act (S.524, H.R. 1062). Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist argued that the crack/powder sentencing “unjustified disparity has resulted in the imprisonment of people who pose no greater threat than their counterparts convicted of cocaine offenses for far greater periods.”

Norquist argued that “it is a core, taxpayer-funded, government role to protect citizens from crime, and manage the criminal justice system. Taxpayers, and all Americans who cherish individual liberty, should take an interest that the criminal justice system is efficient and effective at protecting public safety, upholding the rule of law and property rights, while respecting the constitutional rights of citizens. Where there are failures, conservatives should work to fix the issue, just as we do in other areas of government.”

The Illinois Times last week reported that Sen Richard Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the EQUAL Act has failed to come up for a Committee vote “because of the opposition of a Republican member of the committee, whom he declined to identify.”

“One Republican wouldn’t go for 1-to-1, and we deal with consensus on the committee,” Durbin said. “I have him down lower – substantially lower than 18-to-1 – and I’m trying to get the other side that wants it to be 1-to-1 to accept a different figure. But that’s where we’ve been stuck for over a year. I’m going to do my best to get this moving.”

The unidentified Republican is undoubtedly Sen Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking Republican on the Committee and co-sponsor with Durbin of a number of reform measures, most notably the First Step Act. Last December, Grassley’s proposal of 2.5-1 and nonretroactivity except with Dept of Justice consent in the so-called SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act (S.4116) killed EQUAL’s passage in the last Congress. Now, 9 months later, nothing seems to have changed.

Meanwhile, in the wake of last week’s recommendation by the Dept of Health and Human Services that marijuana be rescheduled from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug, the White House last week asserted that President Biden has “always supported the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes,” she said. “He’s been very clear about that, where appropriate, consistent with medical and scientific evidence.

potscooby180713Marijuana Moment noted that “it’s not accurate to say that Biden has “always” backed cannabis reform. As a senator, he championed several pieces of legislation that ramped up the war on drugs.” Nevertheless, “if DEA goes along with HHS’s Schedule III recommendation, that would represent a major shift in federal marijuana policy, with an acknowledgment that cannabis is not a drug of high abuse potential and no medical utility.”

On the other hand, The Hill reported that advocates and policy experts say rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act does not address the plethora of racial justice issues caused by current law.

“Rescheduling doesn’t address … the harm to marginalized communities,” said Natacha Andrews, executive director for the National Association of Black Cannabis Lawyers. “It doesn’t address the over-policing, it doesn’t address the immigration issues, it doesn’t address the access to federal services, and it’s not in alignment with what 38 states have done to regulate and legalize.”

“My initial reaction is that this is less than what the Biden administration promised specifically,” Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, told The Hill.

MSNBC reported, “To be sure, moving marijuana to Schedule III wouldn’t dismantle the drug war or solve the host of problems needlessly caused by prohibition. Descheduling, or removing the plant from the government’s list of controlled substances, would make more sense and better align with Biden’s stated criminal justice views. Still, rescheduling would be historic, if only due to the historic stupidity that has kept cannabis on Schedule I to date.”

Americans for Tax Reform, Support for the EQUAL Act (September 8, 2023)

Illinois Times, Unjust Sentencing (September 7, 2023)

Marijuana Moment, Biden Has ‘Always Supported The Legalization Of Marijuana For Medical Purposes,’ White House Says Amid Rescheduling Recommendation (September 4, 2023)

The Hill, Marijuana rescheduling falls short of expectations on Biden (September 8, 2023)

MSNBC, What the federal ‘rescheduling’ of cannabis would (and wouldn’t) mean (September 4, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root

‘Spirit Is Willing But…’ In Federal Drug Reform – Update for August 8, 2023

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

NOTHING HAPPENING HERE…

vacation190905If Congress does not approve a new appropriations bill by September 30, the government could shut down. But as anyone who works in or with the federal government knows, the government pretty much shuts down every year for the month of August as legislators, agency heads and government employees leave town for vacations.

This leaves a number of issues important to federal defendants hanging. Two of those are cocaine and marijuana reform.

Before leaving town for the beach, Dept of Justice officials filed comments with the U.S. Sentencing Commission urging the Commission to adopt a number of priorities for the coming year. On the equivalency of powder and crack cocaine, the DOJ urged the Commission (1) to advocate that Congress for passage of the EQUAL Act (S.524 and H.R.1062) to remedy the current disparity between treatment of powder cocaine and cocaine base; and (2) to remind sentencing courts of “their obligation, when considering [18 USC § 3553(a)] sentencing factors, to consider the pharmacological similarities between powder and crack cocaine and whether it is appropriate to impose a variance consistent with the relevant base offense level for powder cocaine.”

You may recall that last October, President Biden directed that the Dept of Health and Human Services lead an effort to reclassify marijuana as something less than a Schedule I drug. That effort includes review by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

marijuana160818Pressed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) during a July 27 oversight hearing on DEA, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told the subcommittee that the agency has not been provided with a definite timeline to review marijuana’s classification. When Gaetz asked Milgram if she would request the timeline from the HHS, she said, “I will ask.”

The rescheduling of marijuana probably won’t be done until late next year. A rescheduling could possibly lead to changes in 21 USC § 841 as to punishment – if not conviction ¬– for marijuana.

DOJ, Letter to Sentencing Commission (July 31, 2023)

Forbes, DEA Head Pledges To Seek Federal Marijuana Rescheduling Review Timeline From HHS (July 31, 2023)

House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, Hearing (July 27, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root