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“The federal prohibition of cannabis has left a legacy of harm that continues to impact historically marginalized individuals.”
By the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition Board of Directors
New Year, Same Position
As we begin a new year with shifts in Congress and the presidential administration, it’s essential to critically re-examine the federal effort to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, a process that has recently stalled as related hearings have been canceled.
Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) supports the descheduling of marijuana—removing it entirely from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—as necessary to fully decriminalize marijuana and promote public health, racial equity and economic justice.
While rescheduling may seem like progress, it ultimately falls short by keeping marijuana criminalized under federal law and failing to address the systemic harms and inequities created by its prohibition.
As a coalition of current and former government officials tasked with leading, managing and overseeing the regulation of legal medical and adult-use cannabis markets across the United States and abroad, we bring firsthand experience with the complexities of cannabis policy. We have seen the real-life consequences of inequitable drug laws and understand the critical importance of centering equity, public health and community reinvestment in every decision.
For CRCC members, the call for federal decriminalization is not just a policy stance—it’s a personal and systemic imperative. The federal prohibition of cannabis has left a legacy of harm that continues to impact historically marginalized individuals and communities disproportionately, particularly communities of color.
Even as states and local governments reform cannabis policies to promote public health and public safety, the persistent gap between federal and state law perpetuates unnecessary harm. Until federal decriminalization becomes a reality, these inequities will persist.
The Rescheduling Process to Date
In October 2022, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review how marijuana is classified under federal law.
Following this directive, in August 2023 HHS recommended reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Acting on this recommendation, in May 2023 DOJ issued a proposed rule to move marijuana to Schedule III, initiating a public comment period that resulted in over 43,000 submissions.
Preliminary analysis revealed that a majority of public comments supported decriminalization over rescheduling. Following the close of the public comment period, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced a hearing on the proposed rule, inviting individuals to request participation. The agency selected 25 witnesses from these submissions, and a preliminary hearing was held in December 2024.
Recently, the presiding administrative law judge canceled hearings scheduled for January 21 through March 6 after allegations of inappropriate conduct by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in selecting and communicating with certain witnesses. This decision allows individuals to appeal their case to the DEA administrator, putting the process back under DEA control.
With President Donald Trump’s return to office and a leadership change at DEA imminent, the next steps and outcome of rescheduling efforts remain uncertain. However, for CRCC, one thing is clear: Rescheduling marijuana is not enough.
How Rescheduling Falls Short
Rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule III substance would require government recognition of marijuana’s medical value and its lower potential for abuse as well as reduce certain tax burdens on the cannabis industry.
However, it falls woefully short of desperately needed reforms for countless individuals and communities. Specifically, rescheduling would:
Maintain federal criminalization for activities authorized under state laws.
Fail to protect patients, consumers and businesses engaged in state-legal cannabis activities.
Do nothing to acknowledge or address the systemic racial inequities entrenched in federal prohibition.
The Case for Descheduling
To achieve meaningful reform, marijuana must be federally descheduled.
Descheduling decriminalizes cannabis at the federal level, but additional steps must be taken to achieve and sustain more equitable and effective cannabis policies. While descheduling is necessary, it is not sufficient.
It’s time for federal marijuana policies that:
End Federal Criminalization: Descheduling would align federal law with the will of the majority of Americans, who support decriminalization and regulation of cannabis for adult use.
Acknowledge and Address Inequities: The racist origins of marijuana prohibition and its ongoing disparate impacts on Black, Latino and Indigenous communities demand immediate action to end criminalization and eliminate related harms and disparities.
Empower State Policies: States have developed robust regulatory frameworks to promote equity and public health, which are hindered by federal criminalization.
Support Public Health and Safety: A descheduled framework would enable the federal government to regulate cannabis more effectively, mitigating risks associated with unregulated markets.
What Does CRCC Support at the Federal Level?
Descheduling marijuana to end its criminalization, accompanied by:
Comprehensive federal reforms to address the harms of criminalization.
Equitable policies that prioritize historically marginalized communities.
Federal support for state-level equity initiatives, including expungement programs and community reinvestment.
The path to meaningful cannabis reform lies in descheduling marijuana and building an equitable federal framework that repairs the harms of prohibition. We recognize that these reforms won’t happen overnight. That is why we are working now to ensure policymakers and federal leaders understand what reforms are necessary to support and protect our communities.
We call on the federal government to act decisively and address the legacy of harm caused by criminalization while also supporting state-level efforts to advance equity in cannabis markets.
CRCC stands ready to collaborate with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that marijuana reform serves the interests of all communities, especially those disproportionately impacted by criminalization.
For more information about CRCC and its previous policy statements, visit https://www.crc-coalition.org/
To review CRCC’s submitted public comment on marijuana rescheduling, visit: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DEA-2024-0059-40152
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
“}]] “The federal prohibition of cannabis has left a legacy of harm that continues to impact historically marginalized individuals.” By the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition Board of Directors New Year, Same Position As we begin a new year with shifts in Congress and the presidential administration, it’s essential to critically re-examine the federal effort to Read More
