Idaho’s Senators join other leaders in opposing marijuana rescheduling
- Monte Stiles
- Sep 13, 2023
- 2 min read
This op-ed was written by Monte Stiles.
Friends, on Monday, Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo joined with other members of Congress in a letter to DEA demanding that it deny the Department of Health and Human Services’ request to reschedule marijuana as a lower-risk Schedule III drug. “We write to urge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject any petition or request to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Any effort to reschedule marijuana should be based on proven facts and science- not popular opinion, changes in state laws, or the preferred policy of an administration.” The letter continued with powerful reasons for DEA to reject the HHS request. (Entire letter is attached.) Idaho is one of only two states to have both Senators join in this letter, which speaks volumes about Idaho's ongoing commitment in protecting our unique quality of life. Because of strong leadership in the state, and the work of many Idaho citizens, pot lobbyists recognize Idaho as “the most hostile state in America for drug legalization,” and this one fact has kept millions of dollars of out-of-state money from being invested in deceptive pro-pot campaigns. As I mentioned in a recent email, a letter previously sent by HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine called on the DEA to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug "following the data and science."
Given the growing mountain of evidence regarding the psychological and physical harms of marijuana use, this is a ludicrous position to take. But predictably, in response to Levine’s letter, the pro-pot crowd immediately renounced the idea of moving pot to Schedule III even though it had advocated moving it to Schedule II for more than a decade when medi-pot was their best chance of achieving their ultimate goals. Now that the pretense of medicine has been abandoned, the pot industry, pro-pot lobbying organizations, pro-pot politicians and others continue daily attacks on the idea of having any control over pot. They simply want it removed from the controlled substances act, which reveals their true intentions from the beginning – full legalization – no regulations. Marijuana as "medicine" was simply a smokescreen. Here is one of many articles describing the letter signed by our Senators. Lankford Urges DEA to Keep Marijuana a Schedule I Drug The Washington Stand September 12, 2023 https://washingtonstand.com/news/exclusive-lankford-urges-dea-to-keep-marijuana-a-schedule-i-drug
**** Senators Risch and Crapo should be commended for taking this stand for Idaho as well as America. If you agree, please take the time to express appreciation for their leadership. Their contact information can be found here. Senator Jim Risch https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact Senator Mike Crapo https://www.crapo.senate.gov/contact
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