UN removes marijuana from list of most dangerous drugs. What is Biden’s pot platform?

The United Nations has removed marijuana from its list of most dangerous drugs, turning attention to what the vote could mean in the U.S.

A U.N. panel voted Monday to delete cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Drugs, a list that also includes heroin. Marijuana will stay on a list of Schedule I drugs alongside cocaine, fentanyl, oxycodone and others, which require the highest international control levels, the Associated Press reported.

The decision comes after a recommendation by the World Health Organization to reclassify marijuana.

While the cannabis industry cheered the decision as a “big step forward” for patients and research, the vote won’t change U.S. laws governing use of the drug, The New York Times reported.

“Something like this does not mean that legalization is just going to happen around the world,” Jessica Steinberg, managing director at cannabis consultant group Global C, told the newspaper. “(But) it could be a watershed moment.”

The House was expected to vote this week on the MORE Act, legislation that includes decriminalizing cannabis, taxing products at 5%, creating a process to expunge convictions and other measures. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sponsoring a companion bill in the Senate.

Whether the bill will even reach the desk of President-elect Joe Biden could depend on the Georgia runoffs that will decide control of the Senate. As Politico reported, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supported legalization of hemp but not marijuana, calling it an “illicit cousin.”

Biden supports decriminalizing marijuana, expunging convictions and legalizing the drug for medical purposes, according to his campaign website. He also wants to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule II drug, which would still consider it as a dangerous substance with high potential for abuse but allow for research.

But Biden wants states to decide whether marijuana is legalized. That’s despite polling indicating overwhelming support for legalization and big wins across the country on Election Day for decriminalization of drugs.

The president-elect’s platform is based on science, data and research, Biden policy director Stef Feldman told The Atlantic in July.

“As science ends up with more conclusive evidence regarding the impact of marijuana, I think he would look at that data. But he’s being asked to make a decision right now, Feldman told The Atlantic. “This is where the science guides him.”

But some legalization advocates say the steps don’t go far enough.

“To truly achieve racial equity in marijuana policy, President-elect Biden must commit to removing marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and repairing harms felt by individuals impacted by this country’s racist drug war,” Drug Policy Alliance director of national affairs Martiza Perez told Marijuana Moment. “Anything less than that is unacceptable and falls short.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 2:52 PM with the headline "UN removes marijuana from list of most dangerous drugs. What is Biden’s pot platform?."