DEA Onboard Moving Marijuana to Schedule III, However DOT is Not on the Same Track

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.

The agency’s move clears the last significant regulatory hurdle before the agency’s biggest policy change in more than 50 years can take effect.

Once OMB signs off, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to move marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. After the public-comment period the agency would publish the final rule.

The DOT, however, has been at work on a Safety Carve-Out to ensure that THC will always be tested in DOT safety sensitive positions. “We are working to preserve DOT’s ability to conduct testing for psychoactive drugs in a person’s system at or above the current legal cutoffs.”