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(This is a developing story and will be updated.)
Top U.S. health regulators have told the Biden administration that marijuana should be rescheduled under the federal Controlled Substances Act, a move that would usher in major tax changes and other benefits for the nation’s legal cannabis industry.
The recommendation to move cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the CSA – made in a letter sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday and first reported by Bloomberg News – is nonbinding and must be approved by the attorney general in order to take effect.
But if rescheduling were to happen, it would immediately solve many of the marijuana industry’s headaches around access to banking and federal taxation as well as potentially open the door to game-changing interstate commerce and, eventually, full federal legalization.
The rescheduling suggestion comes almost 10 months after President Joe Biden launched the first-ever administrative review of marijuana’s status under federal law.
According to Bloomberg, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine suggested in a Tuesday letter to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator that marijuana should be in Schedule 3 based on a Food and Drug Administration review of available scientific and medical literature.
That review also included analysis of medical marijuana program data submitted by at least five states, as MJBizDaily first reported.
The marijuana industry – and investors – reacted to the news of Levine’s suggestion on Wednesday with unbridled enthusiasm.
“It’s about damn time,” George Archos, the founder and CEO of Chicago-based multistate operator Verano Holdings, said in a statement.
“For far too long, cannabis prohibition and its outdated status as a schedule I substance have unduly harmed countless individuals affected by the failed” war on drugs.
Long-struggling shares in publicly traded marijuana companies skyrocketed Wednesday after the news broke, with day-to-day gains as big as 18%.
Chris Roberts can be reached at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.
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