Yesterday, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published its plan to reschedule marijuana in the Federal Register. In the roughly 24 hours since, there have been over 700 comments submitted by the public.
The DEA is seeking to move marijuana to Schedule III, away from its current designation as a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs are entirely illegal for all purposes, whereas Schedule III drugs are available for prescription use. Yesterday’s posting in the Federal Register kicked off a 60-day public comment period, ending on July 22.
At the time of publication, (almost 8am PDT), there have been around 700 comments submitted to the DEA. Nearly half of these comments are urging the federal government to go further by either descheduling marijuana, or legalizing it altogether.
Only a small fraction of the comments (less than 5%) are urging the DEA to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug, indicating that the vast majority either support the move, or believe it simply doesn’t go far enough.
Following the public comment period, the DEA will review all submissions to assess public opinion. This process will culminate in a final hearing and the issuance of a final ruling.
All of the comments provided to the DEA are a matter of public record and can be viewed by clicking here.
For a breakdown of the 10 largest implications of marijuana being moved to Schedule III, click here.
