Coalition of AGs Submit Letter to Feds Opposing Cannabis Rescheduling Proposal

A group of 11 attorneys general submitted a letter to federal regulators opposed to the proposed rescheduling of cannabis. The letter, from AGs in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and South Dakota, contends that “the public health damage resulting from expanded access to marijuana will not be confined to States where it remains fully illegal under state law” and that “moving marijuana to Schedule III will effectively provide the marijuana industry with a substantial tax cut.”

“… In some respects, a rescheduled marijuana will receive more favorable federal tax treatment than alcohol, tobacco, and gambling,” the letter states. “This will cause a tremendous expansion of the existing marijuana industry. And that expansion will lead to the increased consumption of marijuana, which in turn causes a panoply of negative effects.”

Further, the attorneys general argue that cannabis “causes myriad health problems,” including harm to child and adolescent development, links to mental health conditions like schizophrenia, and physical ailments such as cancer and heart disease.

“Expanded marijuana access also increases motor vehicle accidents and creates difficult problems in enforcing laws that prohibit driving while intoxicated,” the AGs write. “Nor are its second order effects much better – marijuana is linked to rising homelessness and welfare dependence, reduced workplace productivity, and increases in anxiety and suicidal ideation.”

The AGs contend that rescheduling cannabis federally would be “unlawful and ill-advised” and maintain that cannabis is a “gateway drug” – despite studies that counter this notion.

In a statement, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who spearheaded the letter, said “There is a myth that marijuana is relatively safe and that expanding legal access to it would not significantly harm the public health.”

“Our comment letter explains why nothing could be further from the truth,” Hilgers said in a press release. “The Biden Administration’s effort ignores the science, ignores our decades-old treaty obligations, and ignores the law, all while acting to give marijuana companies a tax break.”

In all, the proposal to the Department of Justice received more than 40,000 comments before the public comment period closed on Monday.