SCHEDULE VI: A NEW SCHEDULE FOR CANNABIS & CANNABINOIDS
The Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Act (MCCA) offers a path forward that honors both the scientific understanding and the experiences of millions of Americans who benefit from cannabis medicines. Drafted by Americans for Safe Access with input from patient organizations, regulators, researchers, and medical professionals, the MCCA creates a national medical cannabis program through two primary functions: establishing the Office of Medical Cannabis & Cannabinoid Control (OMC) housed under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and changing the schedule of cannabis to a newly created schedule (Schedule VI).
Through oversight over the new schedule, Schedule VI, the OMC will issue classification guidelines for over-the-counter and controlled access products (Schedule VI (A) vs Schedule VI). Additionally, the OMC would issue product and system guidelines for compassionate use prescriptions and the framework for full-spectrum cannabis-based products to achieve evidence-based health claims.
MCCA creates a groundbreaking step forward, introducing a new schedule, a Schedule VI for cannabis and cannabinoids. This new schedule is not just a legal formality—it’s a critical development that acknowledges that cannabis is not just another drug—it’s a botanical medicine with a unique profile. Placing cannabis in its own category would allow for regulations to be tailored to its specific properties and uses. Under Schedule VI, the OMC would oversee these regulations, providing a centralized authority dedicated to cannabis.
Schedule VI-
- Regulated by OMC.
- Covers ALL cannabinoid products intended for human and animal consumption.
- Includes oversight for non-intoxicating cannabinoid products (Schedule VI-A).
- Laboratory, pharmacy, research, and transportation permitting and cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution licensing (no restrictions for prior drug convictions for permits or licenses). Schedule VI permits are granted to state-licensed medical cultivators and manufacturers in Phase 1 for continuity of access.
- Schedule VI specialty pharmacy licenses for access points/dispensaries.
- Interstate commerce allowed between VI permitted/licensed businesses.
- No criminal penalties associated with Schedule VI.
- Patients would have all protections granted to any other prescription recipient.
- State-based “physician recommendations” to become specialized prescriptions.
Why a new schedule?
- Cannabis was placed in Schedule I as a political decision in 1970, not based on scientific evidence. Creating Schedule VI will correct this historical wrong, allowing cannabis to be classified based on its actual medicinal value and safety profile.
- Cannabis is a complex botanical medicine with multiple active compounds that interact with the body in unique ways. A new Schedule VI will recognize its distinct nature, allowing for appropriate regulation that doesn’t force it into an ill-fitting category designed for synthetic and single-compound drugs.
- Creating Schedule VI acknowledges that cannabis is not just another drug—it’s a botanical medicine with a unique profile. By placing cannabis in its own category, Schedule VI would allow for regulations tailored to its specific properties and uses.
Deschedule or Bust?
While not widely debated in Washington, among cannabis businesses and activists, there’s a strong push to fully deschedule the cannabis plant, removing it from the Controlled Substances Act altogether. Not only is this unlikely, but this “deschedule or bust” approach to cannabis policy not only prevents seeking more viable solutions with the same desired impact but is also often based on a misunderstanding of what descheduling actually does and lacks consideration of the real-life implications.
Descheduling does not mean an unregulated free market: The laissez-faire relationship both Hemp and Cannabis have at the federal level is not going to last, and if we do not create an oversight body to treat cannabis differently than prescription drugs, tobacco, or alcohol, then all cannabis plant stakeholders will lose. The financial pressures on those driving the cannabis and hemp markets have replaced long-term vision with inaccurate soundbites to generate headlines for the next quarter.
Descheduling does not mean decriminalization: The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is only one section of criminal law statutes. If cannabis is regulated under the FDA like tobacco, it would be descheduled. However, any possession, cultivation, manufacturing, or distribution outside of the narrow allowance of the FDA would be subject to criminal penalties. Case in point, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act’s legislative intent is “To decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses.” creates a new set of criminal penalties “SEC. 5942. Criminal penalties. (a) Fraudulent Offenses.—Whoever, with intent to defraud the United States— (1-5) shall, for each such offense, be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”
Deschedule vs. Schedule VI is a false premise: The MCCA legislation addresses issues within the Schedule I v Schedule VI framework or potential Schedule II or III (after the rescheduling process is complete) v Schedule VI. You can be for descheduling and see the benefits of Schedule VI. When looking at ASA's legislative proposal are you saying Schedule I would be better than Schedule Vi?
The Need for Codification
In reality, simply descheduling cannabis does little to protect patients or their rights. Imagine cannabis is federally descheduled, yet you live in a restrictive state like North Carolina. The initial impression may be, “this is legal,” but legality would ultimately depend on state law, as federal descheduling provides no direct protections. Even if cannabis is descheduled, North Carolina, for example, would still not recognize it as medicine. As a medical cannabis patient traveling from a neighboring state, you could still be criminalized for possessing your medicine. Without Scheudle-VI status (or another form of medical codification), nothing would prevent states like North Carolina from treating patients as criminals. Descheduling removes cannabis from the CSA and leaves regulation to the states, a unique and inconsistent approach for a medicinal product.
However, a Schedule VI classification could help resolve these issues by formally codifying cannabis as medicine and extending protections for patients under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This approach would prioritize patient rights alongside business interests, creating a framework that balances commercialization with the essential protections that patients deserve.
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