On Feb. 12, 18 House reps sent a letter to Pres Obama requesting he "instruct Attorney General Holder to delist or classify marijuana in a more appropriate way." The signees include 17 Dems and one Republican.
They are: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA), Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA), Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT).
The letter regards the federal classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). It's the "strictest classification, along with heroin and LSD," the signees note, adding that Schedule II substances include cocaine and methamphetamine. "This makes mo sense."
Since marijuana is a Schedule I drug, it's considered to have a "high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use."
The letter signess would like marijuana to "at least" be eliminated "from Schedule I or II." (There are five drug schedules in the CSA). This would allow "marijuana businesses in states where adult or medical use are legal" to be able to "deduct business expenses from their taxes or take tax credits due to Section 280E of the federal tax code."
The pro-cannabis caucus concludes: "Taking action on this issue is long overdue."
