ACRGF - Marijuana Is Closer to No Longer Being a Schedule I Substance
One of the biggest hurdles for the marijuana industry is that marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. As long as it's on that list, using and even researching marijuana will remain next to impossible in the U.S. and many companies, including banks, will continue to shy away from doing business with cannabis companies.
For there to be meaningful marijuana reform, it needs to first be removed from the Schedule I list. And there's optimism that the removal could happen a lot sooner than later. While that doesn't mean that full marijuana legalization will follow, it could, however, be the first step toward decriminalizing it.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The bill would not only remove marijuana from the Schedule I classification but it would also decriminalize it at the federal level. Although the bill will not legalize marijuana, even decriminalizing it would still be an important step forward for the industry. Under the bill, individual states would also be free to make their own rules for marijuana, which is similar to what the STATES Act would accomplish.