A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on Congress to address “the glaring vagueness” that has led to legal cannabis products being sold over the counter across the country …

A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on Congress to address “the glaring vagueness” that has led to legal cannabis products being sold over the counter across the country — including sometimes from vending machines or online.

A letter dated March 20 addresses the consequences of Republican lawmakers’ choice to legalize hemp production in the 2018 omnibus Farm Bill — a decision that perhaps inadvertently led to a multibillion-dollar market in intoxicating cannabis products that are arguably federally legal.

Now, the attorneys general want Congress to shutter the market it helped create. In the new Farm Bill, they want the legislature to enshrine in statute the idea that intoxicating cannabis is not federally legal — contrary to what the law currently states.

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
      291·
      9 months ago

      The best thing we can do is deschedule and regulate it.

      You should have just stopped there.

    • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
      245·
      9 months ago

      he can tell the DEA to deschedule.

      No, he can’t. Biden isn’t emperor, and the DEA is an independent agency. Presidents don’t just get to tell the DEA what to do. You clearly don’t understand how our government works. What he can do is have the Dept. of Health and Human Services order a review of marijuana’s scheduling, which he has done.

      Now, the FDA has already recommended changing the scheduling, and the DEA is currently considering it, so the process is actually underway.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahsinclair/2024/01/18/dea-considers-rescheduling-cannabis-what-this-means-for-us-and-global-reform/

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
        56·
        9 months ago

        No, he can’t. Biden isn’t emperor, and the DEA is an independent agency. Presidents don’t just get to tell the DEA what to do. You clearly don’t understand how our government works. What he can do is have the Dept. of Health and Human Services order a review of marijuana’s scheduling, which he has done.

        This on paper is effectively true, however the DEA is in part under the scope of the executive branch. In practice the president has enough influence over the DEA to practically give the head of the DEA an “order”. Or at least suggest that if his instructions are not followed that the head of the DEA should be job searching.

        In other words, the head of the DEA would not move forward with following the recommendations of the dept of health without the approval of the executive. In all likelihood he could reschedule at any time, and I imagine that time will be based on the elections.

        • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
          64·
          9 months ago

          Again, no. Biden can order a review (which he has), but he cannot tell them what or how to decide. There’s a legally-defined process they have to follow in reaching their determination, and that process was laid out by congress when they passed the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA can’t simply ignore that because the president tells them to. That would be against the law.

          If he fires the head of the DEA for refusing to break the law at his command, the president can be impeached for abuse of power.

          • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
            46·
            9 months ago

            Again, no. Biden can order a review (which he has), but he cannot tell them what or how to decide.

            Right, I already said that. What you are ignoring is that he has the power or fire the person who makes the actual decision.

            If your boss let it be known that he wanted a certain result, and your career depended on it… Even if he can’t by strict definition order you to do it so, they are still implicitly controlling the outcome.

            There’s a legally-defined process they have to follow in reaching their determination, and that process was laid out by congress when they passed the Controlled Substances Act.

            A legally defined process that’s already been carried out? The rescheduling process has virtually been complete, everything but the actual rule making and rescheduling that is.

            The DEA can’t simply ignore that because the president tells them to. That would be against the law.

            And what aspect of the law is conflicting with the DEAs ability to initiate rule making or rescheduling? They’ve e already received recommendations for rescheduling it to level 3 from HHS.

            he fires the head of the DEA for refusing to break the law at his command, the president can be impeached for abuse of power

            What law? Rescheduling is entirely within the scope of practice for the head of the DEA. Maybe if they hadn’t already received a letter from HHS, but that’s already completed. The next legitimate move would be for the DEA to announce new rules/rescheduling.

            • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
              43·
              9 months ago

              Wow, practically everything you said is wrong, and it illustrates how you really don’t understand how this works.

              To answer one of you last questions first:

              What law…?

              The Controlled Substances Act

              And, no, just because Biden has the power to fire the head of the DEA doesn’t mean he has the legal authority to force them to come to a determination he favors. That’s just ridiculous.

              The most he can do is what he already did, and that is to direct the HHS to order a review by the FDA and the DEA of the scheduling of cannabis, and they’ve already done that. The FDA has made its recommendation, and now the DEA has to make a recommendation for final approval. That’s the process as laid out by the Controlled Substances Act, a law passed by Congress, which lays out, in very specific detail, the process for this. And no matter what you insist, the president cannot shortcut this process nor force a decision either way.

              • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
                35·
                9 months ago

                Wow, practically everything you said is wrong, and it illustrates how you really don’t understand how this works.

                Lol, I own and operate a CBD based company. I am well aware of the laws.

                The Controlled Substances Act

                And how does rescheduling conflict with the controlled substance act? They’ve already done their due diligence, as I said you may have had a point prior to the HHS recommendation, but according to the controlled substance act setting new rules/rescheduling is the next step.

                The FDA has made its recommendation, and now the DEA has to make a recommendation for final approval.

                It’s not the food in drug administration, its the department of health and human services that makes the recommendation. Again, you have no idea what you are talking about.

                And, no, just because Biden has the power to fire the head of the DEA doesn’t mean he has the legal authority to force them to come to a determination he favors. That’s just ridiculous.

                He can just fire them if he doesn’t and hire someone he knows will follow orders. You’re just being pedantic.

                That’s the process as laid out by the Controlled Substances Act, a law passed by Congress, which lays out, in very specific detail, the process for this. And no matter what you insist, the president cannot shortcut this process nor force a decision either way.

                First of all, the initial process of drug scheduling is laid out by the controlled substance act, but not how the rules are changed or modified. That’s handled under the purview of the administrative procedure act. According to both of these bodies the only thing left for them to do is have the DEA actually rewrite the rules, or reschedule.

                The only reason the head of the DEA hasn’t done so already (she has made pro cannabis rescheduling remarks) is because the executive is holding off for a bigger impact for the election.

                And no matter what you insist, the president cannot shortcut this process nor force a decision either way.

                Lol, what short cut? The job is done, it’s just waiting for a signature. You don’t even know what the process is, what agencies are involved, or even the difference between rule making and law making. Stop pretending that you have any kind of actual experience in this field.

                • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
                  43·
                  9 months ago

                  I am well aware of the laws.

                  You have very clearly demonstrated that you are, in fact, not.

                  The FDA is part of the HHS, btw. Which, of course, you would know if you r really did “know the law” as you claim.

                  I’m tired of explaining this to you, as I have over and over again. And I’m sorry you just refuse to accept the fact that you’re wrong. But you are, nothing you said your change with that.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        730·
        9 months ago

        Presidents don’t just get to tell the DEA what to do.

        Explain how Biden ordered every federal agency to return to office.

        He started out asking

        https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-the-biden-administration-s-return-to-work-memo-for-federal-employees/baa2e8aa-88f2-43db-9f1f-015561451d72/

        Then ordered them to return

        https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-19/white-house-tasks-cabinet-heads-with-boosting-return-to-office

        Non paywalled article

        https://www.axios.com/2024/01/19/zients-biden-cabinet-return-to-office

        Maybe you don’t have federal experience, but agencies have to do what the president tells them to do.

        It’s the whole “chain of command” thing…

        Edit for your edit:

        Now, the FDA has already recommended changing the scheduling, and the DEA is currently considering it, so the process is actually underway.

        So…

        Absolutely nothing?

        For 80 years the Dem party has been “looking into” FDR wanting universal healthcare. It’s naive to believe this is any different when Dems have been saying the same thing since at least 2008. It doesn’t take 16 years to deschedule. And if you believe there’s still doubts about how harmful cannabis is and if it’s as bad as heroin…

        • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
          183·
          9 months ago

          I’m very sorry you can’t tell the difference between a president telling people to get to work and telling them what decision to reach.

          I suggest you look up the word “nuance” while you’re trying to cherry pick your way around the facts of the matter, btw

            • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
              122·
              9 months ago

              Thanks for explaining how ordering federal employees back to the office has nothing to do with making a decision regarding the scheduling of marijuana, and how telling people to get back to the office is a totally different order than telling the DEA how to reach a decision.

              And, as I recall, your stubborn attempts to refuse all efforts at good reason often end similarly as this one has— poorly for you.

            • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
              43·
              9 months ago

              Biden is in the Executive side of the government. He is in charge of executing the work of the government. In your example, he chose how those organizations executed their business. He did not choose what outcome those organizations had from the work he directed them to execute. It’s like a professor telling you to research a new thing. They can tell you what work to do and how to do it, but the results of your research should be out of their hands.

              Biden can force them to study legalizing weed. Biden might even be able to propose a law to legalize weed that Congress can vote on, but he knows that vote won’t pass and that the Speaker of the House might not even allow it to come to a vote in the House.

        • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
          63·
          9 months ago

          The president can order the operations of federal agencies, but they can’t order specific procedural outcomes.

          The power of the DEA to schedule drugs comes from Congress, not from the executive branch. Congress created the DEA to build process to review drugs and manage them. The president is in charge of executing that procedure, not changing it or skipping it entirely. The power to effectively make laws is Congress, not the president.
          As weird as it seems, there isn’t actually a loophole where the president can order someone to change the law even if that person is technically their employee.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
            319·
            9 months ago

            The power to effectively make laws is Congress, not the president.

            Nothing about descheduling involves passing a law…

            There’s no federal laws about cannabis (technically there is now about hemp).

            It’s illegal federally because it’s scheduled 1.

            Biden 100% can change it, you just don’t seem to understand the process.

            Maybe that’s why so people disagree with me tho. They think this has something to do with laws?

            • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
              9·
              9 months ago

              No, you very much don’t understand how the government works.
              Federal agencies operate with the force of law because they were given regulatory power derived from Congress. The ability for the DEA to manage drug scheduling is derived from it’s congressional creation. They can’t execute the process as they wish, but have to follow the rules created by Congress for them to change the scheduling.

              https://mainelaw.maine.edu/faculty/can-the-president-reschedule-or-deschedule-marijuana/

              There’s a law professor explaining it in nice short form.

              https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10655

              A more in depth analysis from the congressional research service.

              Tldr: you are mistaken as to how it works.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                114·
                9 months ago

                Thanks!

                We also argue that the CSA’s scheduling procedure may allow the President to remove marijuana from the CSA’s ambit entirely. This proposition, we acknowledge, is much more uncertain. It would hinge on a reinterpretation of some of the CSA’s key terms, a generous construction of a CSA provision that deals with treaty obligations, and a modicum of deference to the administrative agencies on judicial review.

                Right there, by a source you just vouched for.

                It’s been a busy morning, so I really appreciate you taking the time to link that for me

                • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
                  6·
                  9 months ago

                  What, exactly, do you think that says? Because I’m pretty sure you just read that as, “The President can tell the DEA to reschedule cannabis,” and that’s not at all what it says.

                • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
                  61·
                  9 months ago

                  Taken out of context, that sentence loses significant meaning.

                  We argue that this procedure gives the President—acting through the FDA and DEA—power to reschedule marijuana to a less restrictive schedule (as the Biden Administration is currently trying to do). Those administrative agencies can conclude that marijuana has an accepted medical use and a relatively low potential for abuse—characteristics that align with placement on Schedule III, IV, or V.

                  That’s the part you skipped, which indicates that the president has the power to direct the agencies to reevaluate and reschedule. They further contend that this process could be used to entirely unschedule the drug.

                  The question being answered in the portion you cherry picked is not if the president has unilateral authority, but rather what the extent of the administrative process they must follow actually is.

                  An even more direct segment from the CRS report:

                  If the President sought to act in the area of controlled substances regulation, he would likely do so by executive order. However, the Supreme Court has held that the President has the power to issue an executive order only if authorized by “an act of Congress or . . . the Constitution itself.” The CSA does not provide a direct role for the President in the classification of controlled substances, nor does Article II of the Constitution grant the President power in this area (federal controlled substances law is an exercise of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce). Thus, it does not appear that the President could directly deschedule or reschedule marijuana by executive order. Although the President may not unilaterally deschedule or reschedule a controlled substance, he does possess a large degree of indirect influence over scheduling decisions. The President could pursue the appointment of agency officials who favor descheduling, or use executive orders to direct DEA, HHS, and FDA to consider administrative descheduling of marijuana. The notice-and-comment rulemaking process would take time, and would be subject to judicial review if challenged, but could be done consistently with the CSA’s procedural requirements. In the alternative, the President could work with Congress to pursue descheduling through an amendment to the CSA.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    19·
                    9 months ago

                    Man, I thought you understood…

                    It’s easier for Biden to deschedule, than it is to reschedule. They’re two different procedures.

                    He can deschedule right now. Instead he wants to reschedule, which doesn’t really do much and still keeps it federally illegal, along with defacto illegal in lots of states. And is much harder to accomplish.

                    I’m sorry I can’t explain it to you in a way you can understand. But since your own source can’t either, I won’t take it personally

                • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
                  3·
                  9 months ago

                  That paragraph you just quoted said it MAY be possible… but only if you completely reinterpret one law, use a wide interpretation of how we deal with treaties, and also just ignore other laws in deference to the President.

                  So basically it is only possible if we ignore the law.

            • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
              9·
              9 months ago

              The law is the Controlled Substances Act.

              The process has been explained to you (I explained it pretty clearly in my first response to you). We understand the process.

              You seem to think it’s just a matter of Biden saying to the DEA, “Do it!”

              You’re wrong.

              No matter how many times you assert that Biden can simply order the DEA to reschedule cannabis, you’ll always be wrong.

        • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
          52·
          9 months ago

          A general can order a private to run into a firefight.

          A general can’t order a private to give him oral sex.

          It’s that whole ‘chain of command’ thing.

          • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
            15·
            9 months ago

            Congress explicitly made it the DEA’s job to schedule and deschedule drugs in the Controlled Substances Act. Much like a general can tell a private to do their job by running into a firefight, the president can tell the DEA to do their job by descheduling cannabis.

            • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
              51·
              9 months ago

              Funny, because you started by explaining that Congress created the DEA and laid out how they work, then end by claiming the President tell them what to do, as if that makes any sense.

              • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
                15·
                9 months ago

                The DEA is part of the Executive Branch, which the president is the head of. The president tells members of the executive branch, such as the DEA, what to do as a matter of course. Biden even appointed the current head of the DEA, Anne Milgram.

                • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
                  4·
                  9 months ago

                  The president tell the DEA to review cannabis’s scheduling, but he can’t tell them what or how to decide.

                  And he’s done that. And they’re reviewing it now.

                  But the decision is theirs to make, and Biden can’t force them to decide one way or the other.

                  As mentioned in another comment:

                  The president can order the operations of federal agencies, but they can’t order specific procedural outcomes.

                  The power of the DEA to schedule drugs comes from Congress, not from the executive branch. Congress created the DEA to build process to review drugs and manage them. The president is in charge of executing that procedure, not changing it or skipping it entirely. The power to effectively make laws is Congress, not the president.

                  As weird as it seems, there isn’t actually a loophole where the president can order someone to change the law even if that person is technically their employee.

                  • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    11·
                    9 months ago

                    It’s all about that soft power. The most direct form of this is via appointments. Simply choosing a head that wants to deschedule, for example. And that is just the most obvious, there are tons and tons of soft power avenues the president has at his disposal.

            • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
              3·
              9 months ago

              No, the president can tell the DEA to do their job, which is studying whether they should deschedule cannabis. He can’t tell them what results their job should have.

              In this metaphor, the general can tell the private to go fight on the battlefield. The general cannot determine whether the private kills people or comes back alive. The general can train the private and give the private all the support and tools necessary to win a fight, but in the end the results come down to the private.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
            212·
            9 months ago

            What does that have to do with anything anyone is talking about about?

            Biden can tell the DEA to reschedule, and they have to listen.

            It’s part of the DEA’s job to schedule drugs, it’s not their job to hand out blowjobs

            • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
              91·
              9 months ago

              Biden can tell the DEA to reschedule, and they have to listen.

              Just like people here in the comments can keep explaining that you’re wrong, and you don’t have to listen.

            • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
              5·
              9 months ago

              Do you really not understand that they were illustrating "the power to give orders does not mean every order is legal”?

              The president can order the operations of federal agencies, but they can’t order specific procedural outcomes.

              The power of the DEA to schedule drugs comes from Congress, not from the executive branch. Congress created the DEA to build process to review drugs and manage them. The president is in charge of executing that procedure, not changing it or skipping it entirely. The power to effectively make laws is Congress, not the president.
              As weird as it seems, there isn’t actually a loophole where the president can order someone to change the law even if that person is technically their employee.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      216·
      9 months ago

      If Biden says he doesn’t want to use that power, than we need a president who’s willing to do things he’s legally allowed to do.

      And you think Trump will be that president? Because it’s going to be either Biden or Trump.

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
      81·
      9 months ago

      And then the next time there’s a Republican president they make it illegal again and you get to bitch and moan about how it’s all the Democrats’ fault for not doing more to protect it.

      Just like what happened with abortion.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        91·
        9 months ago

        I love that one. There were no times that Obama or Biden would have been able to codify abortion into law. They needed congress. Obama had anti-choice Democrats in the Senate like Joe Donnelly and Biden has had Manchin and Sinema working against him since January of 2020.

        But somehow Obama or Biden were supposed to magically make abortion access the law.

        This is why people are okay with Trump being a dictator. They think the president is already a dictator.