rescheduling letter
Eighteen Members of Congress joined together today in calling on President Obama to use his authority to reclassify marijuana from its current position as a dangerous drug, alongside heroin and LSD, with no medical value. A letter, signed and sent by federal legislators Wednesday February 12th, 2014 states that marijuana’s current status “makes no sense,” and requests that President Obama “instruct Attorney General Holder to delist or classify marijuana in a more appropriate way.” “Classifying marijuana as Schedule I at the federal level perpetuates an unjust and irrational system,” read the Congressional letter. “Schedule I recognizes no medical use, disregarding both medical evidence and the laws of nearly half of the states that have legalized medical marijuana.” In a separate statement, the letter’s lead author Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said that reclassifying marijuana “is a step the administration can take to start to rationalize federal marijuana policy to bring it in line with the advances that are happening in the states.” In addition to Representative Blumenauer, the Congressional letter sent to President Obama Wednesday was co-signed by Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN), Sam Farr (D-CA), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Mike Honda (D-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), James Moran (D-VA), Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Jared Polis (D-CO), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT). The CSA gives authority for rescheduling controlled substances to Congress, but it also grants executive branch authority to the U.S. Attorney General and the DEA. “President Obama just told the nation during his State of the Union address that because Congress has been unable to act, he would take executive action where he could on behalf of helping the American people,” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group. “The president has the authority to reclassify marijuana and could exercise that authority at any time.”
