Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sharply criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for refusing to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. In Thursday press release, the DEA stated that marijuana must “[remain] a Schedule I controlled substance because it does not meet the criteria for currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, there is a lack of accepted safety for its use under medical supervision, and it has a high potential for abuse.”
After the DEA announced their decision, Sanders tweeted, “People can argue about the pluses and minuses of marijuana, but everyone knows it’s not a killer drug like heroin.”
Keeping marijuana in the same category as heroin is absurd. The time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 11, 2016
If we are serious about criminal justice reform, we must remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 11, 2016
New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand concurred in a tweet of her own, pointing out that keeping marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance will hinder research into its medical benefits.
Time for #DEA to remove marijuana from Sched 1 to expand #medicalmarijuana research & ensure families in need get legal access to treatment.
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) August 11, 2016
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley — whose home state legalized recreational marijuana use — called on his fellow legislators to step in. “It’s clear now that Congress must take action to end the confusing patchwork of state and federal laws and regulations so that businesses in states that have legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana can access banking services, additional federal research can be conducted, and Veterans Affairs doctors can finally discuss medicinal marijuana with patients,” he said.
Democratic members of the House of Representatives added their voices to the fight as well. Los Angeles Rep. Ted Lieu said in a statement, “The DEA should be spending its limited resources on targeting high priority narcotics rather than erecting roadblocks to medical marijuana.” Rep. Jared Polis from Boulder, Colo. echoed those sentiments in a statement of his own. “The Drug Enforcement Administration’s decision to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug is frustrating, unscientific and, frankly, out of touch,” Polis said. “It is ridiculous to classify marijuana alongside other Schedule I drugs like heroin.” Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee called research prohibitions “dangerous.”
Politicians aren’t doctors or scientists. Marijuana research prohibitions are outdated, unscientific, & dangerous for those who need #MMJ.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) August 11, 2016
(Via Washington Post)