It’s the kind of action that drug policy reform advocates have hoped to see from the agency for Schedule I drugs like marijuana and psilocybin.
But that process so far hasn’t served advocates who’ve repeatedly petitioned DEA to fully remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act or to merely reschedule it on the basis that it has medical value and low abuse potential.
After that point, DEA spent several months collecting information before forwarding their findings and the petition to the U.S.
That’s in spite of the fact that HHS determined that the derivative “appears to be more potent than cocaine in some behavioral assessments” with respect to its affinity for dopamine transporters.
“The CSA requires DEA, as delegated by the Attorney General, to determine whether HHS’s scientific and medical evaluation, scheduling recommendation, and all other relevant data constitute substantial evidence that a substance should be scheduled.
With respect to marijuana, a federal appeals court in August dismissed a petition to require the DEA to reevaluate the plant’s scheduling under the CSA.
In 2020, DEA followed up by clarifying that the drug was no longer considered a federal controlled substance.
“You almost kind of have to,” said Del.
The proposals under discussion generally aimed to set aside a class of marijuana business licenses for Black Virginians, who during prohibition were three times more likely to face arrest for simple possession than their White counterparts despite studies showing both groups used the drug at roughly the same rate.
I’d call it a give-a-criminal-a-company program,” said Davis, who a year earlier had voted to reduce the penalty for simple possession from a misdemeanor punishable by jail time to a $25 civil infraction.
Gilbert did not address specifics last week and his spokesman, Garren Shipley, did not return phone calls and messages seeking additional comment.
It’s less certain how Republicans would handle criminal justice elements of the law.
Legalization advocates like Chelsea Higgs Wise, who founded the group Marijuana Justice, urged Democrats to shift their focus on equity from focusing on business licenses to criminal justice reforms, which she said could present an area of bi-partisan agreement.
Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin , meanwhile, said in a tweet during the campaign that he would not seek to repeal marijuana legalization.
At a meeting of the General Assembly’s Cannabis Oversight Commission on Wednesday afternoon, a representative of Jushi, a multi-state cannabis business holds the medical license to sell the drug in Northern Virginia, told lawmakers the industry has the capacity to sell to medical and recreational customers.
Virginia NORML, which has been advocating for legalization for decades, also supports allowing medical dispensaries to sell to recreational customers.
But the chair of the subcommittee tasked with exploring options, Del.
“I think this is something we are venturing into that we’ve never ventured into before… We’ve got to fix it and we’ve got to get it right.
At the request of legislators, the court agreed to extend its deadline for Congress to formally end prohibition on multiple occasions.
After the Supreme Court independently invalidated prohibition earlier this year, advocates stressed that the decision underscores the need for legislators to expeditiously pass a measure to implement a comprehensive system of legal and regulated sales.
The Senate approved a legalization bill late last year, and then the Chamber of Deputies made revisions and passed it in March, sending it back to the originating chamber.
“If this law is approved in this ordinary period of session, some modifications should also be made to the tax collection legal framework, to provide for a special tax on cannabis and its derivatives, as is the case of other products with an impact on public health: spirits, beer, gasoline and tobacco,” he said, estimating that it could result in the equivalent of nearly a billion U.S.
Under the proposal, adults 18 and older would be allowed to purchase and possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants for personal use.
One of the most notable changes made by the Chamber of Deputies was that the revised bill would not establish a new independent regulatory body to oversee the licensing and implementation of the program as was approved by the Senate.
While the bill would give priority for licenses to marginalized communities, advocates are worried that there might not be strict and specific enough criteria to actually ensure that ends up being the case.
“That is their job and their function.
Members of the Senate’s Justice, Health, and Legislative Studies Committees had approved a prior version of legal cannabis legislation last year as well, but the pandemic delayed consideration of the issue.
In an op-ed published by the Association of American Medical Colleges last week, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow shared a personal story about the stigmatization of drug use and the negative consequences that’s had for people suffering from substance misuse disorders.
“Government policies, including criminal justice measures, often reflect—and contribute to—stigma,” she said.