The governors of six U.S. states—Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Louisiana—sent a letter to President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday urging the administration to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act by the end of this year. The move, they say, will provide economic and tax benefits for cannabis businesses, protect public health, and more closely align government policy with public opinion.
“Rescheduling cannabis aligns with a safe, regulated product that Americans can trust,” says the governors’ letter, which points to a poll that found 88 percent of Americans support legalization for medical or recreational use. “As governors, we might disagree about whether recreational cannabis legalization or even cannabis use is a net positive, but we agree that the cannabis industry is here to stay, the states have created strong regulations, and supporting the state-regulated marketplace is essential for the safety of the American people.”
The governors noted that the recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to reschedule cannabis “comes on the heels of 38 states creating their own state markets” and regulatory systems.
“In some cases, these state regimes have thrived for more than a decade,” the letter says, calling the rescheduling recommendation “a signal that FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services have faith in state regulators and the regulations that they have promulgated to keep citizens safe.”
Read more at marijuanamoment.net