Gov. Jared Polis praised President Joe Biden for taking steps toward rescheduling marijuana as a lower-risk substance.

Biden announced Thursday morning that the Drug Enforcement Administration has filed a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, initiating a 60-day comment period. During this time, members of the public can submit comments on the rescheduling proposal before it’s finalized.  

“The long wait is over and we thank President Biden and his administration for this major action on cannabis reform by moving marijuana from being in the same schedule as heroin to the schedule of codeine, acknowledging for the first time therapeutic use,” Polis said.

He said Colorado and 37 other states have taken “comprehensive steps to legalize marijuana for medical or adult use, pushing our country past the failed era of prohibition.”

“This action from the President is pro-freedom, and forward-thinking, and will help our economy and improve public safety. Today we begin to say goodbye to burdensome 280E tax provisions and embrace an expansion of freedoms Coloradans and Americans deeply value,” he said. 

A supporter of federal cannabis reform for over 15 years, Polis co-founded the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in 2017. In 2021, he called upon Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act, which would provide legal protections for banks that serve state-legal cannabis businesses.

An enhanced version of the SAFE Banking Act, the SAFER Banking Act, was introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-OR, in 2023 and is awaiting action. Late last year, Polis also led a coalition of governors urging Biden and the Drug Enforcement Administration to reschedule cannabis.

Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in 2012. Even if cannabis is rescheduled as lower-risk, it would still not be legalized for recreational use at the federal level.  

Until recently, scientific research around the effects of cannabis has been scarce due to its classification as a Schedule 1 drug. The National Academies of Science pointed out that despite growing acceptance of marijuana in many states, “evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects of cannabis use remains elusive” and that “no accepted standards for safe use or appropriate dose are available to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively.”

A 2020 letter from the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said “marijuana impairs short-term memory and judgment and distorts perception” and, as a result, “can impair performance in school or at work and make it dangerous to drive.”

The group also warned against use of marijuana by children, saying it “affects brain systems that are still maturing through young adulthood, so regular use by teens may have negative and long-lasting effects on their cognitive development, putting them at a competitive disadvantage and possibly interfering with their well-being in other ways.” The group added that, contrary to popular belief, “marijuana can be addictive, and its use during adolescence may make other forms of problem use or addiction more likely.”

Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus recently pointed to studies showing that very potent marijuana is associated with psychosis, but that it also offers some benefits, such as reducing anxiety and depression. 

Luke Niforatos, executive vice president for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, earlier called more research into marijuana-based medications a “good thing.” But the group wants marijuana to stay right where it is, at Schedule 1.

“From a scientific perspective, (it) makes no sense to change,” he said. “What we’ve learned from the science … it’s not something that has medical value.”