WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — After a scheduling review started by President Joe Biden last October, the Department of Health and Human Services has formally recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III substance.

Currently, cannabis is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, the same category as heroin. This means cannabis is officially considered to have no medical applications and a high risk of abuse. 

Although rescheduling the drug to Schedule III would not legalize or decriminalize it, the move would significantly impact the cannabis industry. That’s because as it stands, companies that work with Schedule I substances cannot deduct business expenses, imposing heavy tax burdens on those operations. With cannabis as a Schedule III substance, that burden would be lifted. 

The move would also impact medical research as well, allowing researchers to more easily study the effects of the drug on human subjects. 

And although many cannabis policy reform advocates like Jackie Subeck welcome the move, they also say it is largely insufficient. Subeck said the ultimate goal of policy reform should be a complete de-scheduling and decriminalization of cannabis.