Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has written to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging it to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
After a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to reschedule this year, the DEA is still in the process of considering the issue and opened a public comment period in in May that has attracted tens of thousands of comments so far.
In his letter of July 17 expressing support for rescheduling, Governor Beshear said it was a “common sense” step forward.
“The jury is no longer out on marijuana: it has medical uses and is currently being used for medical purposes,” he said “This recognition is overwhelming – and bipartisan.”
One of the criteria for a substance to be included in Schedule I is that it has no currently accepted medical use. On that point alone, marijuana is incorrectly scheduled – the majority of US states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, and this creates conflicts with federal law.
Governor Beshear is not pro-drugs. In fact, when he served as Kentucky’s Attorney General, he relentlessly pursued Big Pharma firms producing opioids over the damage they had wreaked on communities.
“Nationally, opioid use killed 80,000 Americans in 2022. In the same year, marijuana use alone killed zero Americans,” he said.
The state’s opioid crisis was a significant factor in Beshear signing Senate Bill 47 on March 31, 2023, legalizing medical cannabis in Kentucky from Jan. 1, 2025; with interim arrangements in place. The Governor believes rescheduling at a federal level will destigmatize medical marijuana.
“For communities, rescheduling means legal medical cannabis programs continue to provide a secure alternative to illicit and unregulated markets, further reducing crime and abuse,” he wrote.
Governor Beshear says benefits for cannabis businesses would include putting them on the same economic footing as any other business, and rescheduling would provide real opportunities for research on marijuana for the scientific community. The governor mentioned that Kentucky’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities also support rescheduling.
“As Governor, I will continue to put the health and safety of Kentuckians first. That means supporting sensible drug policies like rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III.”
