issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis<\/a>, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act\u00a0 (CSA) to Schedule III.<\/p>\nUnder a separate order the acting attorning general signed, DEA will hold a hearing on the issue of more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III, starting on June 29.<\/p>\n
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) announced on Tuesday that it has filed notice of intention to participate in the proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarijuana cannot lawfully remain in Schedule I,\u201d Joseph A. Bondy, chair of NORML\u2019s Board of Directors and counsel to the group, said in a press release. \u201cBut Schedule III is not the end of the road. It is, at most, an interim correction. It does not resolve the federal government\u2019s continued failure to recognize adult cannabis consumers who are acting lawfully under state law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group argued in its filing that the hearing record will be incomplete without included the perspective of adult marijuana consumers that the group represents.<\/p>\n
NORML doesn\u2019t oppose moving cannabis to Schedule III, under which cannabis would remain a medicalized substance, but it argues that a more appropriate reform would be to remove cannabis from the CSA altogether\u2014a process called descheduling.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdult cannabis consumers do not become patients because federal law lacks a better category for them,\u201d Bondy said. \u201cThey are not abusing medicine. They are participating in state-regulated adult-use systems enacted by voters and legislatures.\u201d<\/p>\n
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