06-19-2016, 08:13 AM
Right now, marijuana policy is driven by a 2012 Presidential memo which in effect says, hands off (mostly). Even if reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule II very little will change in the near term:
III. Marijuana operations stay open because of presidential prerogative, and that isn't changing soon.
... The Obama administration was bold in issuing memos that ultimately demanded federal officials ignore the CSA with regard to cannabis, particularly given its Schedule I status. If cannabis is moved to Schedule II (or some other schedule), the administration's memos will apply to a drug considered less dangerous than it was previously (see previous section). ...
Since 2012 when the last of the memos was issued, Obama's rhetoric on marijuana has grown only more reform oriented. Reversing the memos would be at odds with a very public metamorphosis at the presidential level. In addition, shuttering thousands of marijuana enterprises would put tens of thousands of people out of work, would reduce tax revenues to states, and would harm small business activity in a large swath of the United States. As a presidential election nears, the last thing any president wants to do is damage the economy. ...
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that the next president would bring a change of course. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have suggested that they are comfortable with the current hands-off/states' rights approach to marijuana policy that the Obama administration has constructed.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/po...ak-wallack
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky
III. Marijuana operations stay open because of presidential prerogative, and that isn't changing soon.
... The Obama administration was bold in issuing memos that ultimately demanded federal officials ignore the CSA with regard to cannabis, particularly given its Schedule I status. If cannabis is moved to Schedule II (or some other schedule), the administration's memos will apply to a drug considered less dangerous than it was previously (see previous section). ...
Since 2012 when the last of the memos was issued, Obama's rhetoric on marijuana has grown only more reform oriented. Reversing the memos would be at odds with a very public metamorphosis at the presidential level. In addition, shuttering thousands of marijuana enterprises would put tens of thousands of people out of work, would reduce tax revenues to states, and would harm small business activity in a large swath of the United States. As a presidential election nears, the last thing any president wants to do is damage the economy. ...
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that the next president would bring a change of course. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have suggested that they are comfortable with the current hands-off/states' rights approach to marijuana policy that the Obama administration has constructed.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/po...ak-wallack
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves