Although there have been various stories claiming that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is going to reschedule marijuana on August 1st, there has been no clarity. The only source has been an anonymous DEA lawyer, which is not at all valid. Finally, though, a DEA official has brought some clarity to the cannabis industry. He states that there has been no real decision made yet. An interview was published on Thursday by aNewDomain where DEA Staff Coordinator Russ Baer refused to confirm the original report that stated that the DEA is going to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug on August 1st.
“We aren’t holding ourselves to any artificial timeframe,” he stated.
The Observer report caused much controversy over the last week or so and had many believing that this was a fact. However, there were also many that were skeptical since Stan Greene’s story only had one source: the “DEA lawyer with knowledge of the matter.” What the report has done, though, is have the DEA give out more information than it is typically willing to. Baer continued to speak about how the DEA feels about legalizing medical cannabis and how rescheduling the drug could potentially be a good thing. Baer adds that the decision to reschedule is a much harder one since the biochemistry of marijuana is so difficult because there are so many components to the drug.
“We are talking about synthetic THC, CBD, oils, extract, edibles,” he stated.
The issue for scientists and employees under the government, Baer said, is to “identify the parts of the plant that might have benefits, and separating out (the beneficial) parts from the ones that aren’t beneficial or harmful.” Another story hat was also released this week had this quote from cannabis policy attorney Tom Downey: “[The DEA] could partially legalize medical marijuana, and the federal government could usher in a new era with a comprehensive and multi-structural approach to pot policy.” This would be done by rescheduling marijuana to a federal prescription system, which would also allow for states to choose whether or not they would like to legalize medical or recreational use.
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