LeadingAge summited a July 22 letter in support of a proposal from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act. This LeadingAge article provides additional information and background, including a link to our comments.

We wrote that a transfer to Schedule III could lead to a greater volume of beneficial research on medical uses of cannabis as well as potential risks of misuse or abuse, and that it may begin to address some of the misalignment between federal and state laws, such as HUD guidance that the use of medical marijuana is illegal under federal law even if it is permitted under state law, which creates access barriers in HUD-assisted housing.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Drug Enforcement Administration, initiated a formal rulemaking process on May 21 to consider moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.  In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be reclassified, and a related DOJ press statement from the Department confirms that it will propose the schedule transfer, consistent with the view of HHS that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use as well as HHS’s views about marijuana’s abuse potential and level of physical or psychological dependence.