The Department of Health and Human Services will recommend regulations regarding marijuana enforced by the Drug Enforcement Agency be loosened, NBC News reports, a significant shift in its position regarding the criminalization of cannabis.
Under the direction of President Joe Biden, DHHS researchers reviewed the Department’s recommendations regarding marijuana. The panel’s final recommendation: move the classification of marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug–similar to cocaine and heroin–to a Schedule 3 drug, where Tylenol with codeine and steroids are classified.
The change might seem small given that both classes are regulated drugs, but for the burgeoning cannabis industry in states where the drug is legal, the change would allow companies to deduct typical business expenses that because of the federal classification, were not previously deductible for cannabis companies. It could also relieve some of the federal banking restrictions that have handcuffed companies from doing business across state lines.