DEA Under Pressure To 'Deschedule Marijuana Altogether': 12 US Senators Send Demand To Merrick Garland, Anne Milgram

A group of 12 Democratic U.S. senators are urging the Drug Enforcement Administration this week to fully legalize cannabis.

Led by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and John Fetterman (D-Penn.), the senators sent a letter signed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on Monday. They also asked for more insight on the agency’s scheduling review of cannabis.

The new push from Congress members follows the release of documents related to the U.S. government's ongoing review of the status of cannabis under federal law earlier this month. That move confirmed for the first time that the Department of Health and Human Services recommended the DEA reschedule cannabis as Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

"The DEA should deschedule marijuana altogether," the senators said in the letter, adding that rescheduling to Schedule III being a big step in the right direction, "would not resolve the worst harms of the current system." 

See Also: Marijuana Legalization: 31 Bipartisan House Reps Urge DEA To Reassess Cannabis Scheduling

"Many of the CSA's criminal penalties for marijuana will continue as long as marijuana remains in the CSA because those penalties are based on the quantity of marijuana involved, not the drug's schedule status," the letter said. "Thus, criminal penalties (including prison sentences, fines and asset forfeiture) for recreational marijuana use and for medical use of marijuana products that lack federal approval would still exist, disproportionately penalizing Black and Brown communities."

The senators highlighted the opportunity of shaping the cannabis industry "from the ground up" free of "corporate capture that has influenced alcohol and tobacco regulations."

"Once descheduled, marijuana can still be subject to public health regulations, drawing from lessons learned through the regulation of alcohol and tobacco," the letter said.

Other senators who signed the letter are Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Hickenlooper (D-Col.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

Read Next: Senator Gillibrand Urges Biden Administration To Deschedule Marijuana: ‘It’s A Medical Issue And It’s A Public Safety Issue‘

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