Biden administration to reclassify marijuana for the first time in over half a century

The Biden administration is set to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, potentially advancing toward easing federal restrictions, several outlets reported on Tuesday.

Concretely, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to move the drug from Schedule I (the most strict category) to Schedule III. This would mean the government acknowledging its potential medical benefits and the start of studies with this purpose.

For over 50 years now, marijuana has been considered as dangerous as heroine and methamphetamines, among other drugs. Being a schedule I drug means its considered one with no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse.

Rescheduling cannabis means studying it to identify potential medical benefits, as well as the possibility that pharmaceutical companies sell and distribute medical marijuana in the states where it's legal.

President Joe Biden took the first step toward this in October 2022 when he directed the Department of Health and Human Services to review its classification. He also said in this year's State of the Union address that "no one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana."

A recent study showed that, same as most of the United States, the vast majority of Latinos in the country believe Marijuana should be legalized in the country.

However, it also showed they are the least liberal demographic when it comes to their stances, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

Concretely, Latinos are the group with the most respondents who said marijuana should not be legal under any circumstance, with 16%. The figure contrasts with 7% of Blacks and 10% of Whites who gave the same answer.

Moreover, 45% said it should be legal for both medical and recreational use. It's the lowest proportion of all demographics along with Asian-Americans, and much lower than Black and White respondents (65 and 59%, respectively). The remaining 39% of Latinos said it should only be legal for medical use.