“Let’s show the Biden administration and federal leaders that Americans demand more than just rescheduling.”
By Cat Packer, Drug Policy Alliance on behalf of United for Marijuana Decriminalization
Marijuana should have never been criminalized back in the 1970s. Even President Richard Nixon’s own commission recommended decriminalizing marijuana use. But Nixon wanted to criminalize and disrupt antiwar protestors and Black communities, so marijuana was placed on the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in Schedule I. Ever since, individuals and communities all across America have been suffering the consequences of marijuana prohibition.
Now, over 50 years later, there’s an unprecedented opportunity for folks to weigh in on federal marijuana policy and demand an end to cannabis criminalization on the record. Last month, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) published its proposed rule to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. This initiated a crucial but time-sensitive public comment period for members of the public to provide feedback on their proposed rule.
The problem is that rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the CSA, while not entirely insignificant, would continue federal marijuana criminalization—not end it. In order to address the racist legacy of Nixon’s criminalization of marijuana
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