Marijuana backers eye proposed federal regulatory change as an aid to legalizing pot in more states
As the U.S. government moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, there may be little immediate impact in the dozens of states that have not yet legalized cannabis for widespread medical or recreational use by adults.
But marijuana legalization advocates hope a change in federal regulations can ultimately change the minds — and voices — of some state policymakers who have been reluctant to embrace pot.
“It’s very common for a state legislator to say to me, ‘I might support this, but … I’m not going to vote for something that’s illegal under federal law,’” said Matthew Schweich, executive director. director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for the legalization of cannabis.
While a proposal to reclassify marijuana would not make it legal, “it is a historic and meaningful change at the federal level that I think will give many state lawmakers a little less hesitation in supporting a bill,” Schweich added .
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed shifting marijuana from a “Schedule I” drug, which includes heroin and LSD, to a less tightly regulated “Schedule III” drug, which includes ketamine and some anabolic steroids. Federal rules allow certain medical uses of Schedule III drugs. But the proposed change faces a lengthy regulatory process that may not be completed until after the presidential election.
In the meantime, the proposed federal change could add new arguments for ballot measure advocates seeking to legalize marijuana. Florida voters will decide in November on a constitutional amendment allowing recreational cannabis. Public votes could also be held in several other states, including South Dakota, where supporters plan to submit signatures Tuesday for a third attempt to legalize recreational marijuana.
After two previous failed attempts, a Nebraska group is collecting signatures to get two measures on this year’s ballot: one to legalize medical marijuana and another to allow private companies to grow and sell it.
In North Dakota, criminal defense attorney Mark Friese is a former police officer who supports a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. He said the proposed federal redistricting could greatly help this year’s initiative campaign. North Dakota voters rejected legalization measures in 2018 and 2022, but approved medical marijuana in 2016.
“The bottom line is that this move allows for an intelligent, well-informed discussion about cannabis law, rather than succumbing to the historical objection that marijuana is a dangerous drug like LSD or black tar heroin,” Friese said.
Others aren’t so sure the redistricting will make a difference.
Jackee Winters, president of an Idaho group backing a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana, said it’s difficult to get potential supporters to sign their petition.
“People are literally afraid to sign anything in Idaho that has to do with marijuana,” she said. “They are afraid the police will come to their house.”
The proposed federal change may have little effect in 24 states that have already legalized recreational marijuana for adults, or in another 14 states that allow medical marijuana. But advocates hope it could sway opinions in a dozen other states that ban cannabis completely or have limited access to products low in THC, the chemical that gets people high.
Since 2015, Georgia has allowed patients with certain diseases and permission from a doctor to consume low-THC cannabis products. But until last year there was no legal way to buy them. Eight pharmacies now sell the products.
The Georgia Board of Pharmacy also licensed low-THC products to 23 independent pharmacies last year, but the federal DEA warned pharmacies in November that dispensing medical marijuana violated federal law.
Dawn Randolph, executive director of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, said a federal reclassification of marijuana could open the way for pharmacists to treat marijuana products “like any other prescription drug.”
In other states, such as Tennessee, elected leaders remain reluctant to support medical or recreational marijuana. Tennessee Senate President Randy McNally, a Republican, previously said he would not support changing state law until the federal government reclassifies marijuana.
But after reports of the DEA’s recommended reclassification, McNally was still hesitant to support any effort to legalize medical marijuana.
Removing marijuana as a Schedule I drug “would just start the conversation in my mind. It wouldn’t end it. There would still be many issues to be resolved if the downgrade to Schedule III happens as proposed,” he said on Thursday.
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana died without a vote in a Kansas Senate committee this year, and an attempt to force a debate in the full Senate failed by a wide margin. The strongest and most influential opposition came from law enforcement officials, who expressed concern that any legalization could invite organized crime and make it difficult to assess whether people are driving under the influence.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Tony Mattivi views the DEA’s attempt to reschedule marijuana as “misguided and politicized,” KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood said.
The head of the South Carolina State Police has also opposed efforts to legalize medical marijuana, saying it opens the door for other drug use. A legalization bill backed by Republican Sen. Tom Davis passed the Senate this year but has stalled in a House committee.
“It’s hard to restructure a lot of people who are conditioned to think about marijuana in a certain way,” said Davis, who vowed to reintroduce a medical marijuana bill next year if re-elected.
While not fully embracing medical marijuana, Iowa and Texas both have laws that allow limited access to some low-THC cannabis products. Some Texas cities have passed ordinances allowing small amounts of marijuana. But a similar effort in Lubbock, home to Texas Tech University, was ridiculed in a Facebook post by Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows as part of the left’s “nationwide effort to undermine public safety.”
In Wyoming, a decade of pro-marijuana efforts through ballot initiatives and legislation have gone nowhere. Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, is ambivalent about legalizing medical marijuana and opposes legalized recreational pot. The Republican Party-led legislature hasn’t even debated the latest bill to decriminalize marijuana and legalize medical marijuana.
Still, one organizer who helped lead failed petition efforts in 2022 and 2023 hopes the federal reclassification of marijuana will spur more lawmakers to support legalization.
“The resistance will be a lot less tangible,” said Apollo Pazell, a proponent of legalization.
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Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report .