Just a week after President Joe Biden's administration began winding down a long road toward marijuana rescheduling, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would deschedule it entirely. That is, the bill would remove marijuana's "controlled substance" status altogether.
Needless to say, after five decades of the federal government treating marijuana like it was cocaine or heroin, things are rapidly evolving with America's favorite illicit drug. Evolving, but not changing. As anyone in trucking knows, the government moves slowly.
Previous reporting on marijuana rescheduling highlighted attorney Brian Vicente's sobering commentary that, even if the feds reschedule marijuana, recognizing its medical value and creating a pathway for Food and Drug Administration approval of products derived from it, legitimate and approved prescriptions remain many years down the road.
But descheduling it entirely? In light of the Senate's feint in that direction, what might something closer to federal legalization really mean for trucking? And how might required professional driver drug testing evolve to accommodate?
Time will tell for certain, but evolution seems inevitable, according to closer watchers, who feel it's time for regulators and trucking companies to really engage with the substance of the national conversation around marijuana.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, has published extensively on marijuana law, and even its impact on the trucking world, a consistently hot topic. A 2023 American Transportation Research Institute report found 60% of carriers had seen an increase in positive drug tests and test refusals over the last five years, and that 62% of carriers thought new federal regulations were needed to deal with states increasingly legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana.
Unfortunately, in Armentano's view, neither the Biden administration's rescheduling efforts nor the Senate Democrats' descheduling would really address the federal regulations that impact trucking.
