DEA Moving to Reclassify Marijuana

Oren neu dag, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Associated Press reports that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is looking to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. It would move marijuana from Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. This change evidences a real policy shift for the federal government–one that recognizes both the “medical uses of cannabis” and that the drug “has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs.”

The change will not, however, make any difference to immigrants as marijuana will remain a federally  controlled substance. This means that INA § 212(a)(2) will still apply: “[A]ny alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of … a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 802 of title 21), is inadmissible.” It also means that INA § 237(a)(2) will still apply: “Any alien who at any time after admission has been convicted of a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 802 of title 21), other than a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana, is deportable.”

-KitJ