Justice Department Formally Announces Plan to Reclassify Marijuana

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on May 16 that it was formally moving to reclassify marijuana out of Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, one the most significant changes in decades of U.S. drug policy. The agency acknowledged the medical uses of marijuana, or cannabis, in a proposed rule it sent to the federal register while emphasizing the plant’s lower potential for abuse compared with other Schedule I drugs. By design, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) puts drugs in Schedule I if the agency believes they have no medical value. Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the plan, but the scheduling change does not automatically legalize at the federal level marijuana for medical or recreational use....