Cannabis Rescheduling Delayed Until Post Election
Despite the hopes of many, including our own soon-retiring Cannabis Crusader, Rep. Earl Bluenenhauer, cannabis will not see a rescheduling prior to the election.
The Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it would be holding a hearing on December 2 of this year. This comes after a public comment period which ended in July, with over 40,000 comments submitted — the majority in favor of rescheduling cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
Supporters were hoping the DEA would expedite rescheduling, partly in light of the request formally coming from President Biden back in April, after a buzz that Biden health officials were pressing for rescheduling in August of 2023, and after October of 2022, when Biden called for a review of cannabis rescheduling.
While the DEA could have requested the final step of review by an administrative judge, it has opted for the hearing — not terribly surprising to many, in light of the monumental shift this represents, after 50 years of cannabis being listed as Schedule 1.
The news not only annoyed Rep. Blumenauer, who said it was "...incredibly disappointing to see the DEA drag their feet on an issue which has been a clear White House priority." It also moved some cannabis stocks to lose up to 13% of their value.
New Studies on Cannabis
This summer has seen an unprecedented number of studies and polls addressing the positive aspects of cannabis use, and fascinating data on the preferences Americans are showing with cannabis versus alcohol and other drugs.
Marijuana Moment reports on a study finding Americans are increasingly using cannabis and psychedelics, while reducing tobacco and alcohol use. The study said, "Hallucinogen use in the past year continued a five-year steep incline for both adult groups, reaching 9 percent for adults 19 to 30 and 4 percent for adults 35 to 50 in 2023...including LSD, mescaline, peyote, shrooms or psilocybin, and PCP." (Hopefully not all at once, but you do you.)
MM reported on another study, which found that the secondhand damage caused by cannabis use was far lower than that of alcohol or opiates. "Looking at responses from 7,799 people to the 2020 U.S. National Alcohol Survey, researchers found that more than a third (34.2 percent) said they'd experienced secondhand harms related to alcohol use over the course of their lives. Just 5.5 percent, meanwhile, said they'd ever experienced secondhand harms related to cannabis," the report reads.
A survey showed that there are now (slightly) more Americans consuming cannabis than alcohol, and that those who did drink said they would benefit from reducing their intake at almost three times the rate of cannabis consumers who felt the same.
New York: When I'm in your town/You know I got to shut 'em down
The rollout of New York's Adult Use cannabis program has been...interesting, beset by many hurdles and missteps that any state faces when implementing such programs. (OK, fine, I'm trying to be diplomatic - the Democratic Governor of New York State called it a "disaster.")
One of the most vexing issues continues to be the nearly 4,000 unlicensed stores illegally selling cannabis, primarily in the five boroughs of New York City. (There are 171 licensed dispensaries in New York State while Oregon has 824 licensed dispensaries.) In May, a joint task force began operation "Padlock to Protect," inspecting and shutting down the illegal shops. Last week, New York announced it had closed over 1,000 stores and held a press conference to show off the four tons of illegal cannabis products seized. The Temu version of David Dinkins, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, oversaw the incineration of what officials said had a value of $63 million. (Sure, Jan.)
The Task Force explained that it was continuing the process of shutting down the 3,000 remaining shops through return visits and additional actions. The Office of Cannabis Management said, "In the six weeks immediately following ICET's authoritative actions, cannabis retail licensees in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island collectively experienced more than $1.8 million in revenue growth, a roughly 50% increase."