Fetterman, Warren Lead Democrats in Calling on DEA to ‘Swiftly’ Remove Marijuana from Schedule I

A coalition of Democrats has called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to quickly remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), signaling impatience regarding the agency’s ongoing review of cannabis designation.

The lawmakers were led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and John Fetterman (Pa.) and Representatives Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

“We are now nearly eight months since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III – and 18 months since President Biden directed HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to begin the marijuana schedule review process. It is time for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to act,” they said.

The DEA is currently conducting a review of marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I substance, the designated category for drugs with no accepted medical use and a high risk of abuse. The Department of Health and Human Services recommended last year that it be rescheduled to Schedule III. In their letter, Democrats reiterated their call for marijuana to be fully descheduled.

“While we understand that the DEA may be facing internal disagreements on this issue, it is critical that the agency quickly correct the erroneous placement of marijuana on Schedule I,” they wrote. “We trust that the DEA is working as quickly as possible to make a decision on how marijuana is scheduled, as Vice President Kamala Harris recently assured stakeholders.”

“We are also hopeful that the DEA will not make the unprecedented decision to disagree with the HHS medical conclusion that a drug is not Schedule I,” they added.

Along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the Democratic senators who signed the letter were Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Peter Welch (Vt. .), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), John Hickenlooper (Colorado) and Cory Booker (NJ).

House Democrats who added their names to the letter were Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Dina Titus (Nev.), Val Hoyle (Ore.), Becca Balint (Vt.), Jim McGovern ( Mass.) and Katie Porter (California), as well as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC).

The DEA and the attorney general’s office did not immediately respond when reached for comment.