WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officials are exploring the idea of loosening cannabis restrictions on the federal level after the Department of Health and Human Services made the recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"I do hope that we are moving towards a phase of not necessarily greater acceptance, but less regulatory penalties," Furtado Law Managing Attorney, Will Furtado said. "[The] Fed has had a very hands-off approach to enforcing cannabis in states where it is state authorized and licensed."
HHS sent a letter to the DEA about reclassifying the drug. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated, "HHS recommended marijuana go from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance."
Schedule I includes LSD and heroin— in comparison, Schedule III includes anabolic steroids.
"Even if that does happen, it will take a long time. It is not going to happen tomorrow. There's an eight-part review process by the DEA, and there's a matter of public comment. We're looking at a year or two," Furtado added.
Furtado more than represents cannabis companies here in Michigan— he's also a consumer.
"I think it's a wonderful plant. It is not for everybody. I would never advocate that everybody should be using high levels cannabis," Furtado added.
Last October, President Joe Biden requested to pardon thousands of people for simple possession convictions. Furtado says the possible reclassification would not impact people serving time currently.
"This, as proposed, wouldn't do anything. It is not a federal decriminalization and is not an expungement," he said.
Furtado explains the need to hear more from the DEA. He says if rescheduling is applied to all 50 states uniformly, it could change who can sell cannabis. Furtado adds an operator would need a DEA license to sell, which can be hard to get and expensive.
"I can certainly say that operators in the industry believe that it would result in inferior product because their experience has been that large, multi-state operators have not created such a good product," Furtado said.
Cannabis faced a similar transition once before when there was a similar proposal in the 1980s. More recently, Congress again looked at decriminalizing the drug.
"The history is important. The DEA has never overridden an HHS recommendation on how to schedule a drug," he said.
Many industry experts see the possible changes as a win. Furtado adds that this would ease taxes on operators. The HHS letter already boosted cannabis stock prices.
