Beshear says federal government should reclassify marijuana to recognize its medical uses

Gov. Andy Beshear has written a letter in support of reclassifying marijuana as a less hazardous controlled substance. Public comment on the proposal ends July 22. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

In a Wednesday letter sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he supports reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III. 

That would move marijuana from a DEA designation that says it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” to having “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” 

Marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug since 1970, when Congress enacted the Controlled Substances Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Beshear’s letter comes near the end of public comment on a Biden administration proposal to reclassify marijuana. The common period ends July 22. So far the proposal has generated almost 32,000 comments. 

Beshear’s letter also comes as Kentucky is accepting applications for cannabis business licenses ahead of a 2025 legalization for medical marijuana. Medical providers can also apply to Kentucky’s Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing for permission to write cannabis prescriptions beginning next year. 

The bipartisan House Bill 829 that became law during this year’s legislative session moved up the medical cannabis timeline from January 2025 to July 1, 2024. 

Under this law, qualifying patients with a history of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cancer or other approved medical conditions will be able to use marijuana to treat their chronic illnesses. 

“The jury is no longer out on marijuana: It has medical uses and is currently being used for medical purposes,” Beshear wrote. “The recognition is overwhelming – and bipartisan. In Kentucky, for example, I signed a medical marijuana law that passed with support from Republican legislative supermajorities and a Democratic Governor.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended the classification change a year ago. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the Attorney General would “initiate the rulemaking process to transfer marijuana to schedule III.” 

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office did not yet respond to a Lantern inquiry into where Coleman stands on the proposed change.

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