Cannabis Rescheduling Sparks Over 30,000 Public Comments Ahead of Deadline

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has recieved over 30,000 comments on the planned cannabis rescheduling since opening up for public consultation in May.

According to the DEA’s website, 31,311 comments have been submitted since May, including 2666 in the past week, as the July 22 deadline rapidly approaches.

As Business of Cannabis has previously reported, the DEA published its formal proposal for cannabis rescheduling on May 21, 2024, officially putting what is set to be the most meaningful overhaul of cannabis regulation in 50-years into motion.

The publication of the proposal means that the 60-day comment period was open for ‘all interested parties’ including the general public, stakeholders in the medical and scientific community, legal and regulatory experts, industry representatives, advocacy groups, and government agencies.

Specifically, the proposal calls for comments relating to the economic analysis of the proposed changes and encourages commenters to provide detailed descriptions, especially concerning the impact on small entities, and to support their comments with empirical data.

While many of the comments voice their support for the changes, with many urging the government to go even further and deschedule cannabis altogether, opposition to the move is also gathering pace.

As such more than 500 comments have included sample comments from staunch cannabis opponents Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), who have previously demanded a public hearing on rescheduling and called for an extension of the comment period.

Last week, the rescheduling project was dealt a major blow after a controversial spending bill aimed at blocking it was passed by a key House Committee.

If the amendment makes it into law, the Department of Justice would be blocked from spending any funds on the rescheduling project.

Separately, the GOP-led committee has demanded the Biden administration explain how and why it decided to reschedule cannabis, raising concerns about the impact on users mental health and the effects of driving under the influence.

A report from the the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (Ag/FDA) appropriations bill calls on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general to explain the scientific review into cannabis that led to a Schedule III reclassification recommendation, Marijuana Moment reported.