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1 1 (November 2, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveesv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A Congressional ______ ~aResearch Service ~~~ i~nforming the legisIative debate since 1914 __________________ Does the President Have the Power to Legalize Marijuana? November 2, 2021 The legal status of marijuana has been a topic of recurring interest in recent years, as states, federal legislators, and federal executive agencies consider how to regulate cannabis and its derivatives. What role can the President play in determining the legal status of a controlled substance such as marijuana? That question came to the forefront during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, with multiple candidates supporting legalization of marijuana and several pledging to legalize the substance nationwide if elected, either indirectly through administrative proceedings or directly by executive order. More recently, some commentators have called on President Biden to end criminal penalties for marijuana possession and use or grant clemency to federal marijuana offenders. Although the President cannot directly remove marijuana from control under federal controlled substances law, he might order executive agencies to consider either altering the scheduling of marijuana or changing their enforcement approach. This Sidebar outlines the laws that apply to controlled substances like marijuana, then analyzes several approaches a president might take to change controlled substances law as written or as enforced. The Sidebar closes with a discussion of key considerations for Congress related to presidential power over controlled substances regulation. Controlled Substances Law Federal Law: the Controlled Substances Act Under federal law, unless a statutory exemption applies, most cannabis and cannabis derivatives are classified as marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). (The CSA generally uses an alternative spelling, marihuana, but this Sidebar uses the more common spelling.) The CSA imposes a comprehensive regulatory framework on certain drugs and other substances-whether medical or recreational, legally or illicitly distributed-that pose a significant risk of abuse and dependence. The framework broadly aims to protect public health from those risks while ensuring that patients have access to pharmaceutical controlled substances for medical purposes. To advance those related goals, the CSA (1) requires entities engaged in legitimate activities involving controlled substances to register with the government and take steps to prevent diversion and misuse and (2) imposes criminal penalties for unauthorized activities involving controlled substances. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10655 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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