11 Aug DEA Denies Cannabis Schedule Change, Enhances Research

In what is mostly a blow to the burgeoning legal marijuana industry, the Drug Enforcement Administration decided not to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, continuing to deem it as dangerous as heroin and LSD. Meanwhile, other very addictive drugs like oxycodone and methamphetamine are listed lower on Schedule II. The reason the DEA used: there just isn’t enough available research to prove that marijuana is more safe and effective than other Schedule I drugs. Others are saying: for some reason Pres. Obama just doesn’t want to put this on his legacy as he is leaving office.

Separately, however, the DEA made clear it wants to work hard to expand the opportunity for more universities to conduct marijuana research. They announced their desire to approve more requests (which also have to be clumsily approved by the FDA) and to make more marijuana available for research, allowing more schools to grow pot for scientific purposes. Right now only the University of Mississippi can do that. So that’s something.

Pretty much every poll shows a growing majority of Americans favoring cannabis legalization, especially for medical purposes, and both major Presidential candidates support medical marijuana legalization. Some activists, however, actually see this denial of a schedule change as positive. They think that politically it would be better to push to move from Schedule I to complete de-scheduling than moving to Schedule II, where it might be harder to move further from. But until that happens, so much in the industry, from banking, commerce and financing, will remain much harder. And that’s a shame.