Earlier this 12 months, the DEA initiated rulemaking to reclassify hashish as a schedule III narcotic. That is most likely the largest information in hashish reform for the reason that Managed Substances Act turned legislation.
Lots of of us had hoped that hashish could be rescheduled upfront of the 2024 election. These hopes had been dashed when the DEA scheduled a listening to for the proposed reclassification a couple of month after the election. My colleague, Vince Sliwoski, wrote a put up on DEA’s listening to announcement here.
Since DEA introduced the listening to in late August (and admittedly even earlier than then), I’ve seen plenty of hypothesis that if President Trump wins, he would derail the rescheduling. That didn’t appear possible provided that President Trump (whereas not excellent on hashish reform in his first term) hadn’t actually indicated an intent to derail the rescheduling course of– if he even may.
However in the previous couple of weeks, it’s turn into obvious that irrespective of who wins, the longer term will look higher for hashish reform. We’ve already known that Vice President Kamala Harris has modified her views considerably through the years, and now helps hashish reform. However in the previous couple of weeks, RFK Jr. (most likely the most pro-cannabis reform of the three candidates) suspended his marketing campaign to endorse President Trump. Now, President Trump has come out himself in assist of hashish reform.
Over the weekend, Trump announced his assist of Florida’s proposed hashish legislation modification, although he talked about favoring legal guidelines that restricted public consumption. Then, Trump appeared on Lex Fridman’s podcast the place he mentioned the advantages of medical marijuana and opined that hashish needs to be authorized and controlled. Trump is predicted to put out extra detailed proposals concerning hashish reform upfront of the election.
Circling again to the difficulty of whether or not Trump would derail rescheduling, I don’t assume that could be very possible– even when he may do this come January 2025. Sure, it was proposed by President Joe Biden. However past that, there doesn’t appear to be any actual motivation for him to attempt to derail the method when even he acknowledged that almost all of Individuals assist hashish reform.
Placing apart the presidency for a minute, the larger concern for hashish reform is whether or not Congress can put a significant piece of laws in entrance of whomever is President. The President solely has a lot authority on this subject, with out an act of Congress. And regardless of common assist for hashish in the previous couple of years, Congress has confirmed fully inept at passing any sort of laws.
Whereas hashish reform has historically seen broad Democrat assist, congressional Republicans are beginning to flip round. For instance, South Carolina Consultant Nancy Mace has been a number one voice for hashish reform. And with Trump throwing his weight behind hashish reform, you’ll be able to anticipate to see increasingly congressional Republicans leap on board. As friend of the Canna Law Blog, Hirsh Jain, Tweeted:
IMO Trump’s stance on hashish can have a larger affect on GOP officers than voters
Which is nice b/c assist of GOP politicians is important to go reform in IN, NH, PA, WI, and many others in 2025
Politicians search “security” within the political tribe & are cautious of public deviation from it
In different phrases, voters are already there, and congressional Republicans (in addition to state-level counterparts) wanted a nudge to get on board. That nudge is right here, so you’ll be able to anticipate to see much more assist within the close to future.
The underside line right here is that, for the primary time for the reason that passage of the Managed Substances Act, each of the primary candidates for the presidency favor hashish reform. Whereas plenty of the main points will likely be ironed out within the coming weeks and as soon as the winner takes workplace, plenty of of us within the business (which has confronted an uphill battle since day one) undoubtedly really feel hope for the longer term.
