Mission for Law Enforcement: Keep President Trump from Rescheduling Cannabis

Let’s keep law enforcement’s greatest supporter from pushing this policy that would increase crime, youth suicide, and dangerous drug trafficking.

Nov 15, 2024

President Donald Trump — Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

(Thank you Keith Graves for the opportunity to share on your Substack: Conservative Cops. You have set this up as the perfect space to share ideas that call law enforcement to look in the mirror and act. Some of my high-octane topics and perspectives are more appropriate on your channel and I look forward to supporting this Substack with regular contributions.)

As a resident of Florida, former President Trump proclaimed that he was in support of Amendment 3, deceptively labeled as a recreational marijuana initiative, it was in fact a financial blunt force push by the cannabis industry to create a monopoly. Fortunately, the ballot initiative was defeated but it was demoralizing to have the other camp using videos of Trump making statements on this destructive initiative to persuade voters, while supporters were fighting against it.

President Trump’s compassion misdirected

Trump’s position was based on the dubious facts that Americans are imprisoned solely based on marijuana possession and arrests for pot are life altering. In fact, simple possession has either been downgraded to a civil citation or informally is a seize for destruction where the suspect walks. Florida’s medical marijuana update about eight years ago (medical marijuana under professional supervision has been legal in Florida for about 30 years) substantially liberalized where patients qualify for an expansive list of conditions or ‘other.’ After a financial transaction, a medical marijuana card is issued and the ‘patient’ has the liberty to choose their treatment at the dispensary of their choice. Under this scheme, marijuana is functionally legal and accessible to anyone willing to submit to the process. Despite the nationwide accessibility, marijuana remains a Schedule One dangerous drug according to the Federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

I support a limited Federal government, but the CSA fits my bill for being a proper use of national authority. The CSA provides the necessary framework, restrictions, and penalties for medicine and drugs to enter or be prohibited at our border. Certain states have allowed personal possession of some notorious narcotics for personal use but many of these policies are being reversed

Important distinctions

Schedule I is not a description of the danger or lethality of a drug. For decades, public opinion has shifted, even to the degree of ridicule when describing marijuana as risky. Beginning in 1994 and years later in my law enforcement career, my colleagues and I shared a lighthearted view of weed. It was synonymous with being mellow and lazy. When Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was suspended for cannabis in his system, people joked that the last thing a person with a ‘weed problem’ needs is additional time off. An entire genre of comedy movies is dedicated to marijuana and its effect on appetite, its dulling effect on ambition and often the presence of paralyzing paranoia.

Fentanyl, a drug devastating our nation, boosting overdose deaths into the hundreds of thousands in the United States is a Schedule II drug, though it has a high propensity for abuse, it has, and has had for decades an acceptable medical use. Per the Drug Enforcement Administration:

“Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous. Some examples of Schedule II drugs are: combination products with less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit (Vicodin), cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin), fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin”

green plant — Photo by Roberto Valdivia on Unsplash

The potency problem

Since 1994, the concentration of the main psychoactive element, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol commonly known as THC has increased from a potency of 4% then to 18% to 23% in today’s most used strains. That hasn’t been good for anyone but has been especially harmful for youth and young adults who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia.

“A landmark 2019 study published in The Lancet concludes that the risk of psychosis triples when using products with 15% THC potency or higher, and daily users are five times more likely to develop a severe mental illness such as psychosis or schizophrenia.”

Recently on the ‘I told you show’ podcast, one of the hosts paused and asked me, in essence, if marijuana was classified as a dangerous drug at 4% potency for ‘Woodstock Weed’ in 1970, why, today, are we entertaining rescheduling with combustible weed at up to 23% and vaping dabs nearly triple in concentration? It’s a recipe for poor mental health outcomes in our rising anxious generation.

When President Trump discussed rescheduling, one of his primary justifications was to allow research to be conducted on the potential benefits. This is a huge talking point but it is a dead end. Despite a tremendous body of research conducted domestically and internationally over the last 60 years, nothing has been unlocked in gold standard research. In fact, this would be the best and easiest route to get marijuana rescheduled: establish a widely accepted use of treatment. So far, people don’t ride in ambulances to hospitals to find out that their problem was a lack of cannabis in their life. No one gets admitted to the hospital with an ailment relieved by an application of marijuana. In fact, they are much more likely to be transported by ambulance to a hospital, detox facility, or mental health receiving facility due to marijuana consumption.

Barack Obama — Photo by History in HD on Unsplash

The rescheduling effort

In the first year, 2009, of the Obama administration, there was an initiative to reclassify marijuana. It ultimately failed on all five categories of the five-part test to determine whether a substance has a medically acceptable use. It was also determined to have a high potential for abuse. One in four users have cannabis use disorder and 50% experience notable withdrawal symptoms.

The denial of petition to the White House from the DEA in July 2016 stated in part:

(1) Marijuana has a high potential for abuse. The HHS evaluation and the additional data gathered by DEA show that marijuana has a high potential for abuse.
(2) Marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. Based on the established five-part test for making such determination, marijuana has no “currently accepted medical use” because: As detailed in the HHS evaluation, the drug's chemistry is not known and reproducible; there are no adequate safety studies; there are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts; and the scientific evidence is not widely available.
(3) Marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. At present, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved marijuana products, nor is marijuana under a New Drug Application (NDA) evaluation at the FDA for any indication.

The Biden Administration began a fresh push enlisting Admiral Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Health and Human Services Administration. Levine, a former pediatrician, who as a senior citizen adopted the trappings of feminine apparel and cosmetics, adopted and pursued the mission of rescheduling marijuana. But here’s the catch: since then, cannabis products have only become more potent, caused more poison control calls and emergency room visits among children, and derailed or ended young lives.

a police car driving down a street at night — Photo by benjamin lehman on Unsplash

It is up to us!

As a law enforcement community, it is vital that our incoming president know how devastating this would be to law enforcement as far as collateral drug seizures. Rescheduling marijuana at the federal level would allow other more dangerous drugs like fentanyl to circulate in our communities. A national dip in youth IQ scores was attributed to lead in gasoline, resulting in a complete overhaul in the fuel supply of America. High potency marijuana unchecked will smother the potential of our rising generations just like it has done in so many communities that have legalized recreational marijuana.

With the election of President Trump, once again we have a leader who backs the blue and supports the badge. Today, we need to mobilize every resource of influence to inform and advise his incoming staff to ensure that the new president knows that the rescheduling of marijuana will hamper the efforts of law enforcement and public safety overall. Let’s lock arms together for our families, our communities and ultimately for our nation on this vital issue.

As always, please keep all our nation’s peace officers in your prayers.