A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) head says the agency\u2019s marijuana rescheduling proposal is \u201cunderstandable\u201d because it \u201creflects the reality\u201d of public opinion toward the medical value of cannabis\u2014even if he personally has concerns about the broader move toward reform.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Fox News this week, former DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson also said it \u201cabsolutely looks like\u201d the agency will follow through with moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever we see over a dozen states now have medical marijuana, clearly there\u2019s a movement for reclassification,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so it\u2019s not a surprise to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it reflects the reality of today\u2019s both culture but also the public sentiment. That\u2019s most significant,\u201d Hutchinson, a Republican who also served as governor of Arkansas, said. \u201cAnd while the medical community still has not arrived at the conclusion that marijuana is beneficial for medical purposes, the public has arrived at the conclusion that it is and so the reclassification is understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed that while rescheduling would represent a \u201cdramatic change,\u201d it\u2019s important for people to understand that a Schedule III reclassification would not legalize it<\/a>. It might lower certain penalties for cannabis-related activity, but \u201cit will remain illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, while Hutchinson was known for taking an aggressive enforcement approach to marijuana while running DEA, he acknowledged in the new interview that its Schedule I status inhibited research, and so rescheduling means \u201cthere\u2019s gonna be a lot more studies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be easier to study, and hopefully that will be beneficial over the long term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n For context, during his time as DEA administrator from 2001 to 2003, Hutchinson earned the ire of advocates for authorizing federal raids against state-legal medical cannabis providers in several California jurisdictions, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Humboldt County, El Dorado County and Ventura County.<\/p>\n The former administrator, who also mounted an unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination<\/a>, was additionally asked about congressional marijuana reform proposals, including a cannabis banking bill and newly reintroduced legalization proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWell the question is: Does society want another harmful product that has increased usage among the public and particularly young people?\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cIt\u2019s conceded statistically that whenever you move toward legalization or regulatory environment, you take away the legal penalties, the usage is gonna go up.\u201d<\/p>\n To that end, he said<\/a> he hopes any plans to fully deschedule marijuana are \u201cput way off into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis gives us an opportunity, as a Schedule III, to actually study it and see more of the long-term health issues that are involved here and then make a wise decision down the road,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my view, there\u2019s ample evidence that this continues to be harmful, addictive and and that we should not legalize it, and that\u2019s what happens if you take it off of a regulated substance.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. House said on Wednesday that the Biden administration\u2019s move to reschedule marijuana is a \u201cstep in the right direction,\u201d but it should be\u00a0followed up with congressional action such as passing the legalization bill<\/a> Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) filed.<\/p>\n On the opposite side of the spectrum, a Republican senator said this week that marijuana is a \u201cgateway drug,\u201d and Democrats\u2019 moves to legalize it reflect \u201cpro-criminal, anti-American policies\u201d that will \u201cstimulate more crime on American streets.\u201d<\/a> He also argued that cannabis banking legislation \u201cfacilitates an entire infrastructure and an ecosystem for more drug usage in America.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Biden Cabinet Member Is \u2018Concerned\u2019 About Marijuana Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Former DEA Head Says Marijuana Rescheduling \u2018Reflects The Reality\u2019 Of Public Support For Reform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) head says the agency\u2019s marijuana rescheduling proposal is \u201cunderstandable\u201d because it \u201creflects the reality\u201d of public opinion toward the medical value of cannabis\u2014even if he personally has concerns about the broader move toward reform. In an interview with Fox News this week, former DEAContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74932,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74931\/revisions\/74932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Former DEA Head Says Marijuana Rescheduling \u2018Reflects The Reality\u2019 Of Public Support For Reform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"