43,000 Comments Filed on Cannabis Rescheduling Proposal as Public Period Closes
State regulators, advocates, health experts and patients were among a surge of parties to submit comments July 22 to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on a proposed rule to reschedule marijuana in what may have been a strategic move for some.
While July 22 marked the end of a 60-day public comment period from when the DEA published the notice of proposed rulemaking—to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—on May 21 in the Federal Register, the DEA continued to post comments July 23 on the Federal Register’s website that had met the deadline.
As of 1 p.m. ET on July 23, nearly 43,000 commenters submitted their input, including almost 7,500 (17.5%) in the final three days. The DEA posted more than 3,000 comments the day after the 60-day period closed (those filed the day before).
Although the proposed rule is to reschedule cannabis, 69% of comments supported descheduling cannabis entirely by removing it from the CSA altogether, according to an analysis conducted by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). This analysis aligns with a 2023 Gallup poll that found 70% of U.S. adults support legalizing cannabis.
The DPA analysis resulted in the following findings:
69.3%, or 29,750 of comments, support descheduling, decriminalizing, or legalizing marijuana at the federal level;
42.4%, or 18,207 comments, mention the need for federal marijuana reform to advance racial justice or social equity; and
24%, or 10,327 comments, were submitted through a public comment tool hosted by United for Marijuana Decriminalization (UMD), a coalition that DPA convenes. These comments were the result of months of grassroots outreach to communities that have been impacted by marijuana criminalization.
“Participation in public comment processes gives the American public a chance to speak from personal experience and provide feedback on proposed legal changes—and it gives the federal government an opportunity to adjust their proposals to reflect public opinion,” Cat Packer, Director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation for the DPA, said in a public statement.
“When it comes to the DOJ’s proposal to reschedule marijuana, public opinion could not be clearer: 29,750 comments, nearly 70% of all comments, support federal decriminalization or legalization because rescheduling is simply not enough,” Packer said. “The people are demanding the Biden administration do more to deliver on the marijuana reforms that communities deserve—and that President Biden and Vice President Harris themselves have promised on numerous occasions.”
MORE ON THIS NEWS HERE