DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A historic move could be in the works in Washington, D.C., as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is moving to reclassify marijuana.
The proposal still needs to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
According to The Associated Press, if the White House signs off on the proposal, it would then recognize the medical use of cannabis. It would also recognize it as having less potential abuse as opposed to other drugs. This move would not legalize marijuana for recreational use.
If rescheduled, marijuana will be moved from a Schedule One drug to a Schedule Three. Other Schedule Three drugs include Ketamine and some anabolic steroids.
This reclassification would still say that marijuana is a controlled substance, so those selling cannabis illegally could still face federal charges.
If the OMB accepts the proposal, a public comment period would need to take place. It would then be reviewed by an administrative judge.
The final ruling would be published after approval. There’s no timetable for these steps at this point.
2 NEWS spoke with an attorney who clarified that even if this does pass, it’s still considered an illegal drug federally — regardless if it’s schedule one or three.
“The penalties can range depending on the quantity of the drug. The recommendation is just to reclassify how it is on the schedule. It doesn’t do anything to change the criminality of it,” said Nicholas Gounaris, lawyer and partner at Gounaris Abboud Co.
The change would come on a federal, not state level. States including Ohio are still working through their laws on medical and recreational cannabis use.
“This is the federal system that is changing how they are classifying this drug. States are classifying it completely differently. The big issue here will be when will the government, the federal government, move to take another step, which would be to decriminalize it altogether. This doesn’t give any indication of when that is going to happen,” said Gounaris.
