Rep. Steve Cohen Unveils Sweeping Bill To Rewrite Federal Drug Classification And Legalize Marijuana

A Wholesale Rewrite of Federal Drug Scheduling

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a sweeping bill in Congress on Thursday that would completely overhaul the federal system for classifying drugs. The 89-page measure, called the Public Health and Research Reforms In Controlled Substances Act, amounts to a wholesale rewrite of the Controlled Substances Act, the Nixon-era law that has governed federal scheduling of marijuana, psychedelics and other drugs for more than half a century.

The bill would replace the current five-schedule system with a new dual-axis framework. Under the proposal, a drug’s potential for substance use disorders and threat to public health would determine placement on Schedules I-IV, while its medical efficacy would determine ranking on Schedules A-E.

Under that structure, a substance could be classified as having both high abuse potential and high therapeutic value, making it a Schedule IA drug. The legislation would also transfer core scheduling authority from the Department of Justice, the attorney general and the Drug Enforcement Administration to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under current law, HHS makes recommendations to law enforcement officials who make final determinations. The bill would replace the existing eight-factor analysis used to evaluate drugs with a new 14-factor review.

A new federal committee of 15-25 members with expertise in pharmacology, addiction medicine, substance use disorders and drug trends would conduct multi-criteria analysis to inform scheduling decisions.

Marijuana Descheduling and Psychedelics Review

The bill would federally legalize marijuana by removing it from the CSA entirely, a process known as descheduling. That reform contrasts with the Trump administration’s more incremental process of rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.

A priority list of substances, including psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT and ibogaine, would need to be reevaluated under the new system within two years. If health officials fail to act, those substances would be rescheduled with new default placements under the bill.

All other substances would need to receive new evaluations within 8 years. HHS would also be required to convene “not fewer than 3 public meetings to address the regulation, safety, manufacturing, product quality, marketing, labeling, and sale of products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds” within a year of passage.

The legislation would allow HHS to continue including marijuana within federal employee drug testing programs even after descheduling. It would also eliminate weight-based, drug-specific mandatory minimum penalties and provide for resentencing of people whose offenses would carry lower penalties under the new system.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission would be directed to revise sentencing guidelines to conform with the new framework.

Reform Groups Endorse the Measure

“Most Americans believe the ‘war on drugs’ has been a failure at cross purposes with good public policy and aimed largely at minorities with draconian mandatory minimum sentences for minor offenses that most now believe aren’t really offenses at all,” Cohen said in a press release.

“A thoughtful review of national drug policy is long overdue. This measure would start the process of aligning the law with coherent public policy,” the congressman said.

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