Too true…
For those awaiting the end of cannabis prohibition in the US, 2024 began on a hopeful note, but as the year comes to a close, many of those hopes remain unfulfilled.
“The big issue is rescheduling, and there was a lot of excitement about that, but it’s been sort of mired down,” said Alex Halperin, who has covered the cannabis industry in his newsletter WeedWeek since 2015. Rescheduling would mean that cannabis is no longer federally banned under the Controlled Substances Act.
Joe Biden has been promising to reform federal cannabis law since his 2020 campaign, and rescheduling seemed like the most significant step the president was likely to take. But recent developments mean it won’t happen during his administration, if at all.
“Now, of course, we have the new administration, and who knows what they’re going to do?” Halperin said.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a scientific review in January recommending that cannabis be reclassified from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance, which would make cannabis-derived drugs eligible for FDA approval. On HHS’s recommendation, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed a new rule to reclassify cannabis, and invited the public to comment in May. More than 40,000 people commented, and 69% of commenters supported federal decriminalization or legalization of cannabis.
Read full article. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/27/cannabis-industry-trump-administration
