The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering whether it will reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended last August. This week a dozen Democratic senators recommended that the DEA go further by completely removing marijuana from the CSA's schedules. Their argument is sound as a matter of policy but legally shaky because the CSA incorporates international treaty obligations in a way that bars the DEA from taking that step.
Since 1970, marijuana has been listed in Schedule I of the CSA, a category supposedly reserved for substances with "a high potential for abuse" that have "no currently accepted medical use" and cannot be used safely even under a doctor's supervision. The DEA has consistently rejected petitions asking it to reclassify marijuana, citing advice from HHS. But last August, in response to an October 2022 directive from President Joe Biden, who said marijuana's Schedule I status "makes no sense," HHS reversed its longstanding position.
