Marijuana supporters believe federal reclassification will help state legalization

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As the U.S. government moves toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, there may be little immediate impact on the dozen states that have not yet legalized cannabis for widespread medical or recreational use among adults.

But marijuana legalization advocates hope that a federal regulatory change could eventually change the minds — and votes — of some state lawmakers who have been reluctant to embrace marijuana.

“It’s very common for a state legislator to tell me, ‘Well, maybe I can support this, but… I’m not going to vote for something that’s illegal under federal law,’” said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Politics Project. of Marihuana, which advocates for the legalization of cannabis.

Although a proposal to reclassify marijuana will not make it legal, “it is a historic and significant change at the federal level that I think will make many state legislators a little less hesitant to support a bill,” Schweich added.

The DEA has proposed changing marijuana from a “Schedule I” drug, which includes heroin and LSD, to a less regulated “Schedule III” drug, which includes ketamine and some anabolic steroids. Federal rules allow some medical uses of Schedule III drugs. But the proposed change faces a lengthy regulatory process, which may not be complete until after the presidential election.

Meanwhile, the proposed federal change could add new arguments for supporters of ballot measures seeking to legalize marijuana. Florida voters will decide in November on a constitutional amendment allowing recreational use of cannabis. Public votes could also be held in several other states, including South Dakota, where supporters plan to submit signatures Tuesday for a third attempt to legalize recreational marijuana.

After two previous failed attempts, a Nebraska group is gathering signatures to put two measures on this year’s ballot: One to legalize medical marijuana and another to allow private companies to grow and sell it.

In North Dakota, criminal defense attorney Mark Friese is a former police officer who supports a marijuana legalization ballot initiative. He said the proposed federal reclassification could greatly help this year’s initiative campaign. North Dakota voters rejected legalization measures in 2018 and 2022, but approved marijuana for medical use in 2016.

“The bottom line is that the measure will allow for intelligent and informed discussion regarding a cannabis law rather than succumbing to the historical objection that marijuana is a dangerous drug like LSD or black tar heroin,” Friese said.

Others aren’t so sure the reclassification will make a difference.

Jackee Winters, president of a group in Idaho that supports a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana, said it’s difficult to get potential supporters to sign her petition.

“People are literally afraid to sign anything in Idaho that has to do with marijuana,” he said. “They are afraid that the police will come to their house.”

The proposed federal change may have little effect in 24 states that have already legalized recreational marijuana for adults, or in 14 additional states that allow medical marijuana. But advocates hope it could influence opinions in a dozen other states that ban cannabis entirely or have limited access to products with low levels of THC, the chemical that gets people high.

Georgia has allowed patients with certain medical conditions and approval to consume low-THC cannabis products since 2015. But until last year, there was no legal way to purchase them. Eight dispensaries currently sell the products.

Last year, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy also issued licenses for low-THC products to 23 independent pharmacies, but in November the federal DEA warned the pharmacies that dispensing medical marijuana violated federal law.

Dawn Randolph, executive director of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, stressed that a federal reclassification of marijuana could pave the way for pharmacists to treat marijuana products “like any other prescription medication.”

In other states, like Tennessee, elected leaders remain hesitant to support medical or recreational marijuana. Tennessee Senate President Randy McNally, a Republican, previously said he will not support a change to state law until the federal government reclassifies marijuana.

But after reports of the DEA’s recommended reclassification, McNally still stopped short of supporting any push to legalize medical marijuana.

Removing marijuana as a Schedule I drug “would just start the conversation in my mind. I wouldn’t end this. “There would still be many issues to resolve if the downgrade to List III occurs as proposed,” he said on Thursday.

A proposal to legalize medical marijuana failed in a Kansas Senate committee without a vote this year, and an attempt to force debate on the Senate floor failed by a wide margin. The strongest and most influential opposition came from law enforcement officials, who expressed concern that any legalization could invite organized crime and make it difficult to assess whether people are driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) Director Tony Mattivi calls the DEA’s effort to reclassify marijuana “misguided and politicized,” said KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood.

South Carolina’s state police chief has also opposed efforts to legalize medical marijuana, saying it opens the door to other drug use. A legalization bill backed by Republican state Sen. Tom Davis passed the Senate this year but has stalled in a House committee.

“It’s hard to reconnect a lot of people who have been conditioned to think about marijuana in a certain way,” said Davis, who promised to push a medical marijuana bill again next year if he is re-elected.

Although they do not fully embrace medical marijuana, Iowa and Texas have laws that allow limited access to some cannabis products with low levels of THC. Some Texas cities have passed ordinances allowing small amounts of marijuana. But a similar attempt in Lubbock, home of Texas Tech University, was derided in a Facebook post by Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows as part of a “national left-wing effort to undermine public safety.”

In Wyoming, a decade of pro-marijuana efforts through ballot initiatives and legislation have gone nowhere. Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, has been ambivalent about legalizing medical marijuana and opposes legalizing recreational marijuana. The GOP-led Legislature didn’t even debate the latest bill to decriminalize marijuana and legalize medical marijuana.

However, one organizer, who helped failed petition efforts in 2022 and 2023, hopes the federal reclassification of marijuana will prompt more lawmakers to support legalization.

“The resistance will be much less palpable,” said legalization advocate Apollo Pazell.

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Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.