Utah medical cannabis distributors optimistic about reclassification

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is looking at making cannabis a Schedule 3 substance, which means low potential for abuse and medical value. For 50 years, cannabis has been a Schedule 1 substance, meaning high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

“This really is a big admission by the federal government that cannabis does have medicinal value,” said J.D. Lauritzen, the head of legal compliance and government affairs for Wholesome Co in Bountiful. “I am walking proof that that medical cannabis can be beneficial. I was able to leave alcohol behind a few years ago thanks to medical cannabis. It treats all the old aches and pains that I had from playing college football.”

Not only could this change some of the stigma around cannabis, Lauritzen said, but it could improve business.

“Currently, we are subject to a very strict tax code provision, Section 280E, that doesn't allow us to take normal business deductions because we traffic in a Schedule 1 or a Schedule 2 substance,” he said. “That would change with the move to Schedule 3.”

It could also mean more research, said Richard Oborn, the director of the Center for Cannabis with Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services.

“The ability for researchers to research medical cannabis, their projects will have less barriers, they'll be able to conduct those projects without some of the barriers that they have now,” he said.

While this change doesn’t legalize marijuana for recreational use, Oborn says it could help people suffering from conditions like chronic pain, PTSD and cancer to try a new type of medicine.

“For the first time in 50 years, the federal government is recognizing the fact that there is some medicinal value, and that that says something about the evidence that's out there,” he said. “It's growing.”

The plan to reschedule marijuana is not immediately in effect it will have to undergo a public comment period. Right now, there is no timeline for that.

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