Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance.

Marijuana is currently classified as Schedule I, reserved for the most dangerous controlled substances, including heroin and LSD. In 2022, President Joe Biden asked US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the attorney general to begin the administrative process of reviewing how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Rachel Levine wrote a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration in August in which she supported the reclassification to Schedule III, a list that includes “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence” such as ketamine, testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.

Rescheduling marijuana could open up more avenues for research, allow cannabis businesses to bank more freely and openly, and have firms no longer subject to a 40-year-old tax code that disallows credits and deductions from income generated by sales of Schedule I and II substances.

  • @[email protected]
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    486 months ago

    It never should have been “classified” or “scheduled”.

    Or alcohol should be schedule 1.

    Cannabis being a “schedule 1” drug (one of the safest drugs we can consume) while alcohol (an extremely dangerous [to society and individuals] drug that is also addictive) is UNSCHEDULED and PROMOTED is beyond absurd.

    Make anything make sense.

    • Ricky Rigatoni
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      116 months ago

      Doctor, my wife left me for my brother. May I please have a medicinal alcohol license?

      • @[email protected]
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        116 months ago

        It goes deeper than that. They could be making money from weed instead of alcohol.

        The answer is existing wealth and power structures.

    • @[email protected]
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      66 months ago

      Alcohol would at worst be schedule 2 since it has medical use. It’s the cure to methanol poisoning and ethylene glycol poisoning.

      • @[email protected]
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        26 months ago

        Damn dude, your comment made me look up the actual classes. For anyone else:

        Schedule 1: high chance of addiction and no professional use; weex, lsd, ecstacy, peyote

        Schedule 2: high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. Considered dangerous; cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall

        Schedule 3: moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence; ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone

        Schedule 4: low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence; Xanax, Soma, Darvon, Darvocet, Valium, Ativan, Talwin, Ambien, Tramadol

        Schedule 5: generally used for antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic purposes; Lomotil, Motofen, Lyrica, Parepectolin