Following news that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had formally advised the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement:
I introduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act alongside Leader Schumer and Senator Booker because, in the end, I think cannabis should be descheduled and strict federal laws put in place to safeguard public health and safety. The HHS’s suggestion to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III narcotic is not without significance, though. It will be a momentous development for a country whose cannabis rules have been out of touch with reality if HHS’s recommendation is ultimately put into effect. Barriers to much finally- In order for state-legal cannabis businesses to no longer be considered like criminal enterprises and to be able to write off their business expenses similarly to other small businesses, necessary research will be discontinued and the unfair 280E tax provision will be scrapped.
“Progress must continue. To bring America’s cannabis policy into the twenty-first century, catch up with the states, and help reverse the decades of harm brought on by the failed War on Drugs, the administration and my congressional colleagues must do more.