Schedule III - Meh

[Gingerbeard]

You can find an article yourself.
Looks like weed has a real good chance of becoming a schedule III drug. That's okay, I guess. But it would still be federally prohibited.

[golfnrl]

You're right of course...I believe this is the first step to the the feds eventually removing weed from any so-called schedule of drugs. It only took a decade after 9-11 for the feds to introduce, and a few years after that to actually pass into law, a medical monitoring and disease treatment program for the people that responded to the WTC pile in NYC. If they would have waited another 10 or 20 everyone would most likely be dead and the need for the program would go away. Some of federal legislators balked at creating the program because they thought it could be used to fund abortion. Point being the wheels of bureaucracy turn very slowly but they do turn once they get going. This is the starting point for weed to be totally decriminalized. Just my .02. Worth price charge.

[Ckbrew]

As someone who has worked in a professional field that is intimately interwoven with the CSA of 1970, I can say that this move is a non-answer that will find difficulty integrating itself into the legal system we are mired in. Additionally it does nothing to address state classification systems, or penalties designated for violation of said statutes. A schedule III status would require a valid and legal prescription for permitted use. That said the regulations will not permit prescriptions for a substance that has not been approved by the FDA. Good luck with that one.The only thing good I see to this is that it would be a step toward total de-scheduling. That said, there will inevitably still be heavy regulation of cannabis just as there is for ethanol. Even though ethanol is legal starting again in 1933, brewing beer was illegal until the late 1970s, and distillation is still prohibited with out licensing.

[OldManGrower]

Yes, the problem with Democracy is that it's slow and messy. With a top down government as in China, decisions can be made rapidly because only a very few individuals make the rules for everyone else. Failure to comply can easily lead to disaster for those who choose not to. In a Democracy, the "will of the people" has to come to a consensus in order to get anything accomplished. Unfortunately most of the "people" are too greedy, incompetent, disinterested or down right stupid to take advantage of this opportunity. Thus it is in the interest of politicians to maintain the status quo.

[90Gizmo]

Whether illegal possession of class 3 drug is felony or not varies from state to state. Also, states create their own schedules making federal rescheduling a weak start.