Federal Cannabis Legalization and Reform: Where Are We in 2024?
It’s been nearly eight months since the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) received an official recommendation to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug, yet this possibility continues to be a top storyline throughout the industry in 2024.
Specifically, Attorney General Merrick Garland has to offer three findings before the DEA issues its pending decision to potentially reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, including its 1.) currently accepted medical use; 2.) relative abuse potential; and 3.) physical and psychological dependence liability.
Garland and DEA officials also are likely weighing the U.S.’s international treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, which rescheduling opponents continue to hammer on as a reason to keep cannabis listed as a Schedule I drug. Prohibitionists also continue to point to the dangers and health risks of cannabis as another reason.
But cannabis wasn’t always treated this way. In fact, the plant was once a legal cross-border import more than 100 years ago, when “the federal government was not overly concerned with marijuana,” according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Prohibition in the U.S.
Federal cannabis prohibition dates back roughly 90 years in the U.S., with the 1937 passage of the Marihuana Tax Act, which outlawed the nonmedical use of cannabis, and regulated cannabis importation, cultivation and distribution. This legislation came following the 1936 production of propaganda film “Reefer Madness,” which infamously claimed, “marijuana is … the real public enemy number one.”
Two decades later, the Boggs Act of 1952 and Narcotics Control Act of 1956 stepped up America’s cannabis war by enacting stricter drug sentencing laws. These laws set mandatory sentences for cannabis-related offenses, including two to 10 years imprisonment with a fine of up to $20,000 for first-time offenders of cannabis possession.
But it wasn’t until President Richard Nixon signed the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA) that cannabis became classified as a Schedule I federally controlled drug, right up there next to heroin, LSD and ecstasy—the only classification on the CSA where drugs have no accepted medical use. Meanwhile, cocaine and fentanyl are considered Schedule II drugs.
The Green Wave
In 1996, California ignited the present-day cannabis legalization wave when voters approved Proposition 215 with a 55.6% majority to exempt patients and caregivers from prohibition laws.
As of 2024, 38 states have legalized medical cannabis in manners that don’t severely limit access to patients, while 24 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized adult-use cannabis. As this landscape continues to evolve, a record-high 70% of Americans think marijuana should be legal, according to Galluppollsters. It wasn’t until 2013 that the majority of Americans agreed in support of this issue.
This map was created in April 2024. States listed as "mostly illegal" take into account allowances for university research as well as patients with certain incurable diseases, such as rare seizure disorders or epilepsy. The three "limited medical" markets have strict THC caps and/or delivery methods.
Federal Cannabis Reform in 2024
Among countless variables that could impact the cannabis industry in 2024, many stakeholders are keen on three main reform prospects at the federal level: the DEA’s pending rescheduling decision, the SAFER Banking Act’s passage, and the Farm Bill’s reauthorization.
Although cannabis advocates with the “deschedule or do nothing” approach have said rescheduling cannabis would only continue the disparities of cannabis criminalization, incremental reform via a Schedule II or III listing could have myriad ripple effects related to industry oversight and enforcement, scientific research, criminal justice reform, and normalization should the DEA finally decide that cannabis does indeed have currently accepted medical use in the U.S.
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