Yo, peep this – Senator Mitt Romney from Utah and two of his Republican homies slid a letter over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, telling them straight up not to reschedule weed under federal drug laws. Right now, cannabis is chilling on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which is where they put drugs that supposedly have no medical value and a high risk for abuse.
The crew, including Romney, Senator Jim Risch from Idaho, and Senator Pete Ricketts from Nebraska, shot that letter straight to Anne Milgram, the big boss at the DEA. These three cats are all part of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They ain’t feeling this Biden administration plan to switch up the schedule for Mary Jane.
So back in August 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was like, “Yo, DEA, you should move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.” They’re saying Schedule III is for drugs that ain’t too addictive or dangerous, like Tylenol with codeine or ketamine. But Romney’s crew is like, “Hold up, let’s think about this carefully.”
In their letter, these senators were like, “Any change to weed’s schedule gotta be based on facts and science, not just what some administration wants. And we gotta think about our international agreements too.” They mentioned how the UN International Narcotics Control Board isn’t down with countries legalizing pot because it breaks them international rules.
See, there’s this big treaty from back in 1961 called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. U.S. Senators cosigned that joint in 1967. This treaty says the U.S. has to regulate certain drugs like weed because other countries are watching. The CSA is how we follow them rules at home, and it tells the Attorney General where to put marijuana on the schedule.
The senators laid it out real clear that moving weed to Schedule I or II is what they gotta do to keep it 100 with the rest of the world. They’re saying that’s the law and that’s what we agreed to do. And they’re asking questions about how other countries will feel about deadly drugs like fentanyl if we start messing with weed.
They even dropped some knowledge about a study saying smoking weed every day ups your chances of a heart attack by 25% and a stroke by 42%. Plus, they mentioned how using cannabis can mess with your mental health – leading to stuff like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Romney went online Wednesday to share their letter on social media. He was like, “Listen up, rescheduling weed might make us break our international promises.” He said we can’t change the schedule just ’cause we feel like it – it’s gotta be based on facts and keeping our word.
But this legal eagle named Jason Adelstone says there ain’t no rule stopping Uncle Sam from moving weed to Schedule III. He’s saying all this fear around marijuana comes from old-school anti-drug propaganda, not real science. Adelstone said moving Mary Jane to Schedule III would actually help more people get access for medical reasons.
The DEA hasn’t said when they’ll make a call on this HHS proposal yet. But best believe folks like Romney and his crew are keeping a close eye on things.