Cannabis Move to Schedule III: A Win for American Consumer Safety

By Claire Grusin | August 31, 2023

I am lucky to have had a long and successful career in cannabis consumer research. I say this not to boast, but to say I have witnessed the adoption of cannabis amongst American consumers firsthand.

Cannabis category penetration remains roughly 25% among adults 21+ in the US, and around 50% of those consumers are using cannabis multiple times per day. (Brightfield Group, 2023) Parents in legal states are concerned about youth access, vaping and the unchecked, stratospheric increase in product THC percentage. (CPOT Board Discussion, 2023.)

While cannabis legalization to date has, no doubt, had some very positive public health impacts, (i.e. decreased opiod deaths in some states, for example,) accelerated cannabis usage amongst Americans, in conjunction with federal policy feet-dragging has created its own special kind of public health nightmare.

As a result of federal policy delays, we've come to the proverbial fork in the road. Research funding for cannabis has lagged, untested products like Delta8 have entered the lungs of Americans without any oversight whatsoever, and the illicit market can operate in broad daylight, with little fear of penalty. (Nevermind the civil rights disaster that is still unfolding as we speak.)

Schedule III reclassification, when finalized, would provide a much needed tax windfall to an industry hemmoraging money and talent. It would likely save or bring back thousands of jobs.

Further, it's wise of the Biden administration to admit they don't know it all yet because, well, they don't - no one does. We have a lot of learning to do.

Is cannabis rescheduling the silver bullet so many had hoped for? No. But the rescheduling has the potential to create better, safer cannabis products for American consumers, and isn't that what everyone wanted in the first place?

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." - Martin Luther King