214
Kamala Harris Says 'We Need To Legalize' Marijuana For First Time As Democratic Presidential Nominee
(www.marijuanamoment.net)
this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
214 points (98.6% liked)
New Jersey Cannabis
124 readers
56 users here now
A source for cannabis news and vaporizer use
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The President can only legalize cannabis through an Executive Order, which is a temporary measure. They can reschedule or deschedule it through the CSA, HHS, and DEA, but Congress would need to pass legislation to decriminalize it and expunge related records.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10655
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if they reschedule it it is no longer federal illegal. States that want to ban it would still have their laws but removing it from banned substance lists would also remove the federal road blocks to legal use; banking rules, insurance, etc. It should be decheduled entirely and then legislators, state and federal, could decide legality.
Rescheduling would protect access to cannabis with a prescription, but it would not mandate national decriminalization. Recreational use would still be determined by the state, with potential for federal charges, and people currently incarcerated for use or distribution of cannabis would remain in prison.
Wouldn't it realistically have to be descheduled to be recreational under the DEA though?
The DEA doesn’t determine criminalization, only enforcement. That legislation is written by Congress.
The DEA approves the rescheduling or descheduling, but not decriminalization.
Well, to be more specific it would be the Controlled Substance Act. But, the intention of my comment was to highlight that any substance scheduled couldn't really be considered "recreational" to the federal government.
That’s true. Decriminalizing without descheduling wouldn’t help.