Unsuccessful efforts to reschedule marijuana have been made by a GOP Congressman.
Rep. Andrew Clyde’s (R-GA), who is trying to attach the measure to a bill focusing on fentanyl would take away the authority of the U.S. Attorney General to make drug scheduling decisions. It would also block the application of the revised scientific standard used in the cannabis rescheduling proposals that are still pending.
Clyde presented the amendment to a House Rules Committee before the Halt Fentanyl Act. It’s currently unclear if the Republican-controlled panel will make the amendment in order for a floor vote.
While the underlying bill would also streamline research into Schedule I drugs like marijuana and certain psychedelics—in addition to increasing penalties related to fentanyl-related offenses—the congressman’s amendment would stipulate that the attorney general delegate scheduling decisions to the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), further specifying that he or she “may not delegate any such functions [of drug scheduling] To any other officers or employees of the Department of Justice.”
It appears that this is a response to critics who have been critical of the Biden administration’s efforts to change marijuana’s Schedule I classification to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
Historically the head of DEA has been signing off on a proposal to reschedule rules. In this instance, the then Attorney General Merrick G. Garland had approved the rule, which led some to suspect that the DEA was opposed to it, despite having been the official “proponent”.
Clyde (R) and Rep. Ben Cline demanded last May from the then-DEA Administrator Anne Milgram that she answer why it was “decades’ of precedent” for her to not sign a proposed rule rescheduling marijuana.
Clyde’s amendment to HALT Act appears to be aimed at this end. It states, “Before the Federal Register publishes a final or proposed rule regarding the scheduling of any substances under the Act, the rule must first be approved by the Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator. The rule has no effect until it is approved.”
It could become a serious problem under current DEA leadership under Donald Trump. Derek Maltz, the Acting Administrator of DEA under President Donald Trump, subscribes to “gateway drugs” theory and believes that most residents in states which have legalized marijuana will still obtain it illegally from cartels because they are taxed so high in regulated markets.
Clyde’s amendment is also aimed at the revised process of review that led to cannabis being recommended for Schedule III. The Clyde Amendment states that any assessment about a substance’s medicinal value must “meet the five criteria” specified in the rules that were applied to deny a request to reschedule marijuana that had been published by DEA back in 1992.
This proposal would reinstate stricter review criteria, which for years has been used to keep cannabis on Schedule I.
In the past, the government has relied on that five-part test to determine whether a substance meets the standard for having currently accepted medical use—one that looks at a drug’s chemistry, available health data and other details. In 2023, however, in order to evaluate the proposed rescheduling of cannabis by the Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services introduced a simplified, two-step approach that ultimately led them to the conclusion that marijuana belongs on Schedule III.
Last May, DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) said the prior five-part test was “impermissibly narrow” and said the two-part review “is sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU even if the drug has not been approved by FDA and would not satisfy DEA’s five-part test.”
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Meanwhile, although the HALT Act is primarily meant to escalate criminalization over fentanyl-related offenses, advocates have pointed out that the legislation—an earlier version of which cleared a congressional committee in March 2023—would also revise requirements for researchers interested in studying any Schedule I drugs.
It is hoped that the registration of studies on Schedule I substances will be expedited and researchers can produce limited quantities. The move could alleviate some concerns regarding how strict classifications such as marijuana and psychedelics have hindered scientific research.
Some of the research provisions of the bill are similar to those contained in a marijuana-focused measure that then-President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022, giving the U.S. attorney general 60 days to either approve a given application or request supplemental information from a prospective research applicant. This bill creates an easier way for scientists to obtain larger amounts of cannabis.
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Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.
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