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(Nexstar) – It’s been nearly two years since the Department of Health and Human Services recommended rescheduling marijuana in the US
However, the process stalled after the process was suspended in January. Despite the suspension, some hoped that the then administration could roll the ball again after President Donald Trump expressed support for legalizing marijuana on the campaign trail.
It’s not happening less than 100 days after Trump’s term. However, efforts across the country to legalize marijuana have not slowed down.
Here’s what you need to know.
Will marijuana be rescheduled?
Marijuana may still be rescheduled from Schedule I drugs to Schedule III drugs. This process has been unfolding for decades historically, over decades, Paul Almentano, deputy director of the Marijuana Law Reform Group (NORML), told Nexstar.
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In 1972, Normulu petitioned the DEA (the then-drug dispensary and dangerous drugs) to make cannabis a Schedule II drug. Until 1988, a DEA law judge published his opinion and recommended that he be rescheduled cannabis. Two years later, the DEA rejected the decision. Following the round of lawsuits, the petition eventually died in 1994 for more than 20 years.
Since then, there have been other attempts and it took about 4-8 years for everything to be resolved, Armentano said. It “is not a surprise at all” at the current delay, he added.
Another case can be obtained by Trump, Heather Torrella, operations director, and fellows at the Rockefeller Institute. Trela’s research focuses primarily on marijuana policy.
If marijuana is being rescheduled, will it be legalized nationwide?
“I think this will work if President Trump makes this a priority,” she explained, but said this doesn’t seem to be one of his biggest priorities in the early days of his administration.
Almentano and Torrella pointed to those who have appointed Trump to lead major institutions.
What is the future of legalizing marijuana and rescheduling?
“I would have said that 25 or 30 years ago, 39 states legalized the use of medical marijuana, and 24 states legalized adult marijuana use in a serious inconsistency in federal law,” Armentano said.
He pointed to a similar situation in US history: the ban. As Armentano explained, amid the “unpopular” federal policies, the state began to violate the alcohol ban. Ultimately, the federal government handed over the decision to the state, intervening on aspects such as taxation, advertising and interstate commerce.
The bill, introduced in the House on Thursday, could do just that, Lauren Daly, interim executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, told Nexstar. The bipartisan says the 2.0 law “ends the federal ban on cannabis and allows states to decide on their own cannabis policies.”
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“It’s been a long time since Congress has advanced federal cannabis reform in 24 states that already have adult use laws,” Daly said.
The nationwide move to legalize marijuana could be on the rise, Torrella suggested, “what else is happening in politics.”
“I think some of this legalization will push you to more sides if you’re facing other bigger, more immediate issues,” she explained.
Other bills introduced in Congress so far require a tax credit or credit ban for marijuana companies to continue, whether or not marijuana companies are scheduled. No action has been taken on these fragments of the law.
Where is the state’s legalization efforts?
More than 30 states have already legalized some form of medical marijuana. Almost half have legalized it for recreational use among adults. This has been happening since 2010, and marks “pretty surprising political achievements” for such a short period of time, reflecting an increasingly positive view on cannabis.
Four states had marijuana-related laws regarding voting in November. In addition to Florida, voters in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska asked marijuana-related questions in the vote. Only Nebraska saw the preparations passed.
“You’ll say it’s a success [for marijuana legalization] Trela said Norml tracks marijuana-related laws at more than 120 state-level levels.
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Meanwhile, states that have already legalized marijuana are seeing efforts to roll back or repeal voter-approved laws. This includes Ohio, which is trying to rewrite voters of the Recreational Marijuana Act, which was approved two years ago.
Other states are adjusting aspects of the law, including reducing their legal level of effectiveness, Torrella said. In some cases, like Virginia, lawmakers were unable to pass a sales bill, so it is legal to own marijuana, but there is no place to legally buy it.
“We have a perception that legalization is inevitable for a lot of people, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us,” Daly said.
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