Staff Reports
The liberal left are at it again, pushing for the widespread acceptance of marijuana in the United States. The latest move comes from the Biden administration, which reportedly plans to relax regulations on cannabis and move it from the strict Schedule I to the more lenient Schedule III under the Controlled Substance Act. But while some advocates are hailing this as a monumental breakthrough for the cannabis industry, others are calling the move nothing more than a symbolic gesture that won’t alleviate the challenges faced by private cannabis sellers and growers.
David Culver, the senior vice president of public affairs for the U.S. Cannabis Council, a trade group, is practically doing cartwheels over the news, claiming that the change to Schedule III will be the turning point the industry desperately needs. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The reality is that even though 38 states have given the green light to cannabis for medical or commercial use, it still faces the same constraints as heroin at the federal level. This means that the industry continues to grapple with serious setbacks, as pointed out by Paul Armentano, a deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Shocker,
since he threw the border open for fentanyl.Biden Administration to Loosen Marijuana Laws, Some Advocates Say It Changes Nothing https://t.co/W2jcS9waxH
— Crice (@carmen6) December 27, 2023
Armentano is right: reclassifying cannabis to Schedule III won’t solve the existing problems. In fact, it will only make existing state laws inconsistent with federal law going forward—talk about chaos and confusion! Not to mention the potential public health crisis that could come from making cannabis more accessible. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, warns that loosening the classification will only worsen public health by ramping up commercialization and glamorization of marijuana. Just what we need, huh?
If that isn’t bad enough, a recent study shows that marijuana use among young adults has reached record levels, and the trend is only climbing. The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research found that past-year, past-month, and daily marijuana usage has hit the highest levels ever recorded. This is alarming for a substance that comes with risks of addiction and mental health problems, especially with high potency. The United Nations even reports an uptick in people seeking treatment for cannabis addiction in most regions of the world.
So as the Biden administration tries to make it easier for people to get their hands on marijuana, the consequences of increased usage are clear. It’s time to wake up and smell the, well, not the cannabis, but the reality that promoting widespread marijuana use is a recipe for disaster. Let’s not go down this dangerous path, folks.
