by Barley Lewis-McCabe
President Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 18 delivering a recommendation from the Health and Human Services department (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regarding marijuana. HHS recommended that cannabis be moved from a schedule I drug, or a highly addictive substance with no medicinal use, to schedule III, meaning it is significantly less abusive, and has legitimate medical usage. This executive order extends from a 2022 request from the Department Of Justice (DOJ) and HHS by President Biden to review how marijuana was scheduled.
There isn’t much of a difference between the two practically, rather it makes the federal government’s stance widely known, and brings attention to the debate.
“The order to start it came from Biden, and the order to get on with it comes from Trump,” said Dominic Corva, former cannabis studies program lead. “The actual outcome, again, is going to be tied up in this long and fairly political process that involves multiple different government agencies, not just the DEA, right? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a lot of power here. The health bureaucracy has some power here, HHS, pharmaceutical lobbies… honestly, it’s the same but different. It doesn’t really move the needle on anything.”
As per the executive order, the main intention of rescheduling marijuana is to increase access to medical marijuana products and increase research potential, but it could have a ripple effect throughout the cannabis industry at large.
“Loosening of the federal definition of cannabis and the classification of cannabis could allow for greater tax protection for businesses,” said local cannabis farmer and owner of Herb and Market Humboldt Chrystal Ortiz.
Cannabis businesses are usually taxed under the 280 E tax code, which stops businesses that engage in commerce of Schedule I and II controlled substances from being able to deduct business expenses. This means cannabis companies can’t write off things that other businesses can, such as rent, employee wages, and office supplies. Ortiz hopes that cannabis being reclassified to schedule III could lead to these tax burdens being lifted.
“[It] would be a huge benefit for retailers, distributors, manufacturers and other people in the supply chain,” Ortiz said. “Other potential benefits are more access to grant monies, more access to research trials, universities being able to access it easier… with the acknowledgment that cannabis has medicinal value.”
Some of the federally recognized medicinal uses for cannabis are pain relief, assistance with nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, as well as anorexia related to certain medical conditions. There are more holistic medicinal uses of cannabis such as sleep aid, anxiety relief, bath bombs to reduce stress and muscle pain, as well as skincare.
University Communications Specialist Melissa Hutsell commented on the possible reclassification of marijuana leading to a change in disciplinary procedure surrounding students found in possession of marijuana, even for medicinal usage.
“At this time, it’s too soon to know whether any reclassification will result in any policy changes for the California State University (CSU) system,” Hutsell said. “CSU and campus policies remain unchanged, and the university continues to operate under existing federal and state laws.”
Associate Kinesiology Professor Whitney Ogle researches how cannabis interacts with exercise. But due to restrictions around cannabis research on campus, her not being allowed to provide marijuana or bring inebriated people to campus, she relies on consumption lounges for her human research, although she’s unable to take university equipment off campus. Ogle hopes that the new administration will be more open to cannabis testing.
“Humboldt County has been kind of the epicenter of cannabis for a long time, and so it would be really great if the university can support us to be able to get that research out from Humboldt,” Ogle said. “It should be coming from Humboldt and, so that’s what I hope happens, is that the university is supportive of doing more Cannabis research.”
Barley is an untraditional reporter, photographer and opinion editor who focuses on stories about social changes that have a real human impact. If you’d like to reach him for whatever reason email bl258@humboldt.edu.
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