Overscheduled

Wasn’t the DEA supposed to have released its decision on rescheduling cannabis by now?

—John E. Law

Of course it was, and of course it hasn’t. Word was that the Drug Enforcement Administration was in talks to bump cannabis to Schedule 2 within the first half of 2016. Do you know how hard it is for government agencies to admit they’ve made a mistake? Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it supposedly has no medicinal value and has a high risk for abuse. You know, like other Schedule I drugs such as heroin or LSD.

If they decide to reschedule cannabis, what would they say to the thousands of people that have had their lives destroyed by the DEA’s overzealous pursuit of people that like weed? This is the same DEA that could have removed cannabis from Schedule 1 in 1988, but chose to reject the findings of its own judge when he stated, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” (There’s more juicy stuff in this opinion. Read it here: www.ccguide.org/young88.php.)

All that aside, the DEA is taking its sweet time. DEA spokesman Russ Baer recently told a reporter for TheCannabist.co: “I can’t give you a time frame as to when we may announce a decision. We’re closer than we were a month ago. It’s a very deliberate process.”

Here’s the deal: It’s not hard to do, but think about all the things the DEA and the feds would have to deal with if cannabis was descheduled. The DEA wouldn’t just be giving up the millions of dollars of its budget that it wastes each year going after pot users: They would have to drop a bunch of cases, give back a bunch of seized assets, deal with prisoners petitioning for release and more. It’s a big deal. It is hard for people, especially bureaucrats, to willingly relinquish that type of power.

By the way, if you think the feds only go after big-time outlaw cannabis growers, I refer you to the case of Devontre Thomas, a 19-year-old native American kid from Oregon who faced a year in jail and loss of any potential federal subsidies, such as student loans, for being caught with less than one gram (Less than one gram. Maybe enough for a decent sized joint!) of cannabis on federal property. It took a U.S. Congressman and a giant outcry by the public to get the feds to drop the charges. The war on drugs is a sham and the war on pot users is a travesty and a mockery. It’s time for it to end. I still hold out hope that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to deschedule cannabis right before he leaves office, but I am not placing any bets.

Any cool pot-themed events on the horizon?

—Hitch Aiker

Yup. The 25th anniversary of the Seattle Hempfest is happening August 19-21. This is the biggest “protestival” in the world. I will be there. Come say high. Get more info at www.hempfest.org.