Ben Carson, the former head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, speaks out against an active proposal by the administration to reschedule marijuana.
The former HUD Secretary suggested in an op/ed on Fox News published Thursday that reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Substances Act would conflict with President Obama’s effort to stop “the crime crisis destroying American cities.”
While “there are many reasons for high crime rates,” he said, “we cannot ignore the one factor that has been dominating the national discussion in the past few weeks, the growing use of cannabis in urban areas.”
Carson said that “as President Obama begins to clean up the streets, Soros-funded activists push for a dangerous Blue City style policy which will worsen this crisis: the rescheduling of marijuana into Schedule III.” Even well-intentioned, but misguided, activists now advocate to loosen restrictions on marijuana through attempts to reschedule it.
Schedule III would not legalize cannabis federally. The Schedule III designation would acknowledge its medical uses and permit state-licensed cannabis businesses to claim federal tax deductions that they were previously barred from taking under IRS code 280E. The bill would remove certain restrictions on research that are currently in place for Schedule I drugs.
I urge caution in considering such radical changes. “The intent might be good, but it’s clear that the results are harmful”, wrote the former Trump official. As someone who has spent decades working to improve the well-being and health of American families, I’ve seen how drug abuse can destroy lives and communities.
Illegalization of cannabis is also associated with substance-use disorders and chronic homelessness, argues Mr. He.
As night follows day, so do negative consequences of drug liberalization. Carson explained that the order of civil society and law enforcement will suffer if you allow individuals to abuse drugs or engage in other antisocial activities. More and more places are discovering the hard way how reducing drug prohibitions has disastrous results.
The rampant use of drugs is the main cause for crime in areas under control. “This truth is evident in countless American towns,” said he. “As an ex-pediatric neurosurgeon, who cares deeply for the future generations of America’s youth, I feel we need to approach marijuana policies with caution. Let sound evidence lead the debate.”
“The health, safety and stability of our families depend on thoughtful, responsible leadership—not experimenting with policies that fuel more crime and suffering. Focus instead on what makes American cities and towns places that everyone can thrive.
Eight years ago, the former cabinet member criticized criminal drug law enforcement’s impact on underprivileged communities.
Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime adviser and former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer have recently expressed divergent views on whether the Trump administration will move forward with marijuana rescheduling.
Stone made a separate case for reform last week in an op/ed published by MEDCAN24.
Nine GOP members of Congress have asked the U.S. attorneys general to refuse what they call a “corrupted and flawed” proposal for reclassifying marijuana.
In contrast to that letter from GOP lawmakers, a leading drug policy reform group recently launched a petition urging the president to go further than rescheduling by legalizing marijuana altogether.