Wider access to marijuana in Illinois? What federal reclassification could mean for users
A proposed federal reclassification of marijuana would likely not expand legal access to certain Illinois residents who are prohibited from using the substance by federal law, even though the state has legalized the substance.
U.S. drug law categorizes controlled substances as Schedule I, Schedule II and Schedule III. Marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, LSD, ecstasy, peyote and methaqualone. Schedule II includes cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, OxyContin and others, while Schedule III drugs include codeine combination medicines, ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.
The Justice Department’s proposed reclassification announced May 16 aims to shift marijuana to a Schedule III substance, reflecting the fact the substance is permitted for medical use in 38 states.
“This will make it more feasible for people to get medical marijuana across the U.S.,” Illinois Legal Aid Online executive director Teri Ross said in a recent interview with the News-Democrat.
The reclassification is likely to go through since so many states have already legalized medical cannabis, Ross said, but the process could take a few years to finalize.
Medical and recreational weed are legal and regulated in Illinois, so the reclassification likely will not have a direct effect on the Land of Lincoln’s marijuana-related statutes, Ross said.
Because marijuana would still be a controlled substance if moved into the Schedule III category, people living in federally subsidized housing would still be prohibited from using marijuana at home and Illinois residents who are not U.S. citizens would still be at risk of deportation for use. Marijuana use is also prohibited for service members in the U.S. military and on federal government property, such as Scott Air Force Base.
Federal law also prohibits crossing state lines with marijuana, a provision especially relevant to metro-east residents as some purchase cannabis products in Missouri to pay the Show Me State’s lower tax rate.
So what would it take for Illinois residents to have more equal access to legal marijuana use?
To really affect access to marijuana, the federal government would have to further declassify marijuana to make it a regulated substance, like alcohol and tobacco, Ross said. As alcohol and tobacco are readily available to those of legal age with a valid ID, the federal U.S. government adding marijuana to this category would make it accessible across the nation.
One effect of reclassifying marijuana to a Schedule III substance is increased availability for research in the U.S. As a Schedule I substance, research is strictly regulated and difficult to do, Ross said.
The limited research on marijuana’s health effects “poses a public health risk,” according to an article published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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