Milwaukee leaders hope marijuana reclassification will lower incarceration, lead to legalization
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Biden Administration is pushing to reclassify marijuana.
For more than 50 years, marijuana has been a Schedule I drug, meaning it has been in the same category as methamphetamine and ecstasy. Now, the Biden Administration has taken a step to have it reclassified as a Schedule III drug, which would put it in the same category as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine.
On Friday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said felony charges related to marijuana have long impacted black and brown communities and that changing the drug classification would bring marijuana policy into the 21st Century.
"I can tell you that it will go a long way to make sure that those folks, the people that make up the diversity in this city, have a better pathway forward, and quite frankly, it's something that we should've done a long time ago," he said.
President Joe Biden announced the step Thursday and said it would help reverse long-standing inequities, as it would lower the restrictions and penalties faced by those who use pot.
"This is monumental. Today, my administration took a major step to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one drug to a schedule three drug. It's an important move toward reversing long-standing inequities. Look, folks, no one should be in jail merely for using or possessing marijuana. Period. Far too many lives have been upended because of the failed approach to marijuana and I'm committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it," the President said in the video announcing the reclassification.
Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin applauded Joe Biden's push.
"No one should be in jail for just using marijuana or possessing marijuana," State Sen. LaTonya Johnson said.
Johnson, the state senator for Wisconsin's 6th, District applauded the move and said she is optimistic it will get the wheels turning for marijuana reform in the Badger State.
"It will prevent those barriers. It will prevent those arguments that marijuana is so dangerous that it's classified as a Schedule I, and that's exactly what we need to continue to push the momentum forward and to get this passed here in Wisconsin," she said.
"The fact of the matter is the vast majority of Wisconsinites live within a short drive to a neighboring state where they'll able to purchase marijuana products, and they're doing it. They're doing it by the millions of dollars. Those are dollars that could be taxed, that then could be going to support things right here in Wisconsin," Mayor Johnson said.
The DEA defines a Schedule III drug as having a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.
The rescheduling proposal will appear publicly in the Federal Register, opening it up for a 60-day public comment period.