TPA Praises Executive Order Rescheduling Cannabis

For Immediate Release 

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224) 456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) praised President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) expediting the rescheduling of marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to a Schedule III substance. According to the Controlled Substances Act, Schedule I substances have the highest potential for abuse and have no accepted medical use. In contrast, Schedule III substances are considered to have less potential for abuse and have a wider variety of potential medical and research purposes.

In response to the EO, Ross Marchand, Senior Fellow at TPA, offered the following comment:

“Prohibition only succeeds in growing black markets and making consumers less safe. After witnessing the spectacular failure of alcohol prohibition, policymakers should have known better than to make marijuana a Schedule I drug. They failed to learn their lesson. The lives ruined and taxpayer dollars wasted are a sad testament to that failure. Rescheduling is long overdue and acknowledges the myriad research and medical opportunities that will follow reform.

“The move away from prohibition must not end here. Millions of consumers are desperately trying to quit smoking, only to be told by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] that they can’t buy tobacco harm reduction products in stores. The federal and state governments are making the same mistake in barring access to 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), yet another harm reduction product. The American people are tired of bans and needless barriers to lifesaving and life-changing products.

“Taxpayers and consumers deserve a better approach than the failed status-quo on drug policy. This reclassification is an important stepping stone away from prohibition and toward research, medical treatment, and harm reduction.”