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Commentary By Josh Appel

Marijuana Reclassification Is a Surrender to Big Weed

Health Drug Development

Photo by Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On Thursday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order moving state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). That places it in the same category as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine. Under the CSA, Schedule I is reserved for drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, such as heroin and ecstasy, while Schedule III drugs are recognized as having legitimate medical applications and a low to moderate risk of dependence.

The White House framed this move as expanding research access and improving patient care. What it actually delivers is a tax windfall for licensed cannabis, a federal blessing for a public health experiment gone wrong, and a break with the voters Donald Trump claims to represent.

Continue reading the entire piece here at UnHerd (paywall)

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Josh Appel is a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute.