Resigning AG Holder Open to Cannabis Rescheduling

Departing Attorney General, Eric Holder, is showing greater and more direct support for rescheduling cannabis than just about any other official I can think of. Perhaps the fact that he is resigning his post, gives him the freedom to speak his mind without worrying about going against the political grain.

Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I substance, meaning it’s classified as: a) having no medical use; and b) being highly addictive. By that definition alone, marijuana doesn’t belong on this schedule. Let’s ask the millions of people who have been helped by medical cannabis if they think it has no medical use. Also, by that standard, shouldn’t cigarettes (at least nicotine) be a schedule I substance? It’s long been clear to most of us that cannabis being classified in the same category as heroin is the result of politics, the dissipation of alcohol prohibition, and classic scapegoating. This is Reefer Madness gone to the extreme.

Holder stated, “It’s certainly a question we need to ask ourselves, whether or not marijuana is as serious a drug as heroin, especially given what we’ve seen recently with regard to heroin — the progression of people, from using opioids to heroin use, the spread and the destruction that heroin has perpetrated all around our country. And to see how, by contrast, what the impact is of marijuana use. Now it can be destructive, if used in certain ways, but the question of whether or not they should be in the same category is something that we need to ask ourselves — and use science as the basis for making that determination.”

When asked if marijuana should be federally decriminalized, Holder commented, “That is something for Congress to decide. I think we’ve taken a look at the experiments that are going on in Colorado and Washington, and we’re going to see what happens there, and that’ll help inform us as to what we want to do on the federal level.”

While that may seem like a canned response, consider how careful Holder must be when speaking of this matter. While his role is not inherently political, his conduct and comments directly reflect on President Obama, who installed him as Attorney General. I’d say this is about as close to an endorsement as we’re going to get at this point.

As well-known marijuana advocate Tom Agnell said, “It’s refreshing to hear these remarks from the attorney general, especially since the science couldn’t be any clearer that marijuana doesn’t meet the criteria for being classified as a Schedule I substance.”

All in all, it’s encouraging. One of the highest legal officials in the land is chipping away at the long-lived status quo. Changing American drug policy is like using a hair dryer to melt a glacier, it will take time and consistent effort. But I think the AG carries a bigger dryer than most. Let’s hope whoever succeeds him is of a similar mind.