Should marijuana be rescheduled?

For more than 50 years, dozens of “controlled substances,” including various pharmaceutical products as well as marijuana, cocaine, heroin and everything in between, have been shoe-horned into five statutory “Schedules,” according to various criteria set in federal law. While some of these categorizations make sense, others do not. Marijuana (technically, tetrahydrocannabinols or THC, which is the operative chemical in the marijuana plant) falls into the latter category — and perhaps it’s time to revisit this aspect of the “Controlled Substance Schedules.”

THC is currently classified at the highest level, that is, as a Schedule I controlled substance — on par with heroin and LSD and having “no currently accepted medical use.” Even those of us who don’t think recreational marijuana use is a good idea can agree that the current scheduling is absurd and erodes institutional trust.

Frankly, it is time to reschedule cannabis to where it belongs — Schedule III — which will still limit its availability but also will allow for expanded medical research into therapeutic uses of the drug and restore common sense to federal drug policy. 

Most people surely recognize that cannabis — whatever they think its legal status should be — is a far cry from heroin and does not belong in the same enforcement category. In contrast, even cocaine is less restricted, categorized as Schedule II. As someone who cares about the rule of law, I know how insidious it is to maintain such clearly nonsensical regulations. It undermines the broader credibility of federal drug scheduling.

This anomaly is compounded by the reality that a large majority of states — 40 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia — currently recognize medical uses for cannabis. In other words, most states now contradict the federal position that there is “no accepted medical use” for cannabis. This tension can be largely resolved without going so far as to legalize recreational use on the federal level. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration defines Schedule III drugs as having a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Schedule III currently includes anabolic steroids, testosterone and ketamine, to name a few. Cannabis would fit far more sensibly in that list.

Rescheduling cannabis is not merely a bureaucratic reshuffling. Its Schedule I status creates major barriers for researchers and doctors wishing to study potential therapeutic uses. Further, it creates burdensome red tape that slows scientific progress.  

It demonstrably is not the case that no medical value can be had from marijuana. It has been used effectively to help patients with epilepsy, chronic pain, PTSD and chemotherapy-induced nausea. The notion that there is no known medical use for cannabis and cannabis-derived medication is clearly outdated. 

As a conservative, I have always believed that cutting regulatory red tape spurs economic growth. This would be the case for rescheduling cannabis; a straightforward change would support more than 440,000 existing jobs and open the door to future growth. It would lead to more American jobs in research and medicine, generating therapeutic breakthroughs and boosting the economy.

If the Trump administration moves forward with cannabis rescheduling, it is critical that they do it the right way. I’ve spent enough time in Washington to know that stuffing such a change into an omnibus spending bill is not the answer. Nor is an executive order the right vehicle for this policy shift, since rescheduling could easily be undone by a future administration.

Instead, the federal government should reschedule cannabis via the official rulemaking process, which would involve the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice in coordination with the White House and other executive branch stakeholders.

Taking an objective view of the current cannabis policy landscape, it is clear that both scientific and cultural attitudes about marijuana have progressed dramatically in recent years. It is time for the federal government to catch up. Rescheduling marijuana to a Schedule III controlled substance is a substantive but nuanced way to do so without legalizing the drug wholesale.

Ultimately, cannabis is a drug that can have genuine medical benefits and its therapeutic uses warrant further research. Rescheduling marijuana to a more sensible classification will unlock new research, new jobs and help restore credibility to federal drug laws.  

Bob Barr represented Georgia’s 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He served previously as the United States Attorney in Atlanta from 1986 to 1990 and was an official with the CIA in the 1970s. He now practices law in Atlanta, serves as head of Liberty Guard, and is the immediate past president of the National Rifle Association of America.