Congresswoman Barbara Lee Releases Statement on DEA Marijuana Reclassification
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, released the following statement on the announcement that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will move to reclassify marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug to Schedule III.
“Marijuana’s current scheduling is inappropriate, arcane, and out-of-touch with the will of the American people,” said Congresswoman Lee. “This announcement is a step in the right direction. But to be clear: cannabis must be fully descheduled in order to end the War on Drugs and repair harm to communities of color. This move is progress for businesses, but we can’t let it undermine comprehensive reform.”
Congresswoman Lee has been a longtime advocate of full descheduling. In October 2023, Congresswoman Lee and her Cannabis Caucus Co-Chairs led a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram calling on the administration to recognize the merits of full descheduling and work with congressional leaders to ensure it happens.
Just last week, Congresswoman Lee joined a letter with Senators Elizabeth Warren and John Fetterman calling on the DEA to remove the Schedule I classification. They noted that while a Schedule III reclassification would bring meaningful improvement, the only way to remedy the most concerning consequences of marijuana prohibition is to deschedule it entirely.
As a Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, Congresswoman Lee helps lead the coalition of members of Congress fighting to end the war on drugs. Lee has always opposed America’s War on Drugs as unjust, classist, and racist. Having lived in Los Angeles and Oakland, she’s seen the consequences of the drug war up close and personal, and dismantling prohibition one bill at a time has been one of her missions since she first took office. She introduced the first cannabis reform bill focused on racial justice, the Marijuana Justice Act, in 2019. The legislation would deschedule marijuana at the federal level and repair some of the harm from the failed War on Drugs by expunging federal marijuana use and possession crimes; incentivizing states through federal funds to amend their cannabis laws; and creating a Community Reinvestment Fund to invest in the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs by funding job training and re-entry programs.
She remains at the forefront of Congressional negotiations for cannabis reform with the goal of finally ending the racist, outdated, and unjust war on drugs