PRINTER'S NO. 2457
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
158
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY RABB, BURGOS, KENYATTA, PARKER, HILL-EVANS,
McNEILL, SCHLOSSBERG, SANCHEZ, HOHENSTEIN AND MADDEN,
NOVEMBER 23, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States, President of the
United States, Attorney General of the United States, Drug
Enforcement Administration and Department of Health and Human
Services to remove cannabis as a Schedule I controlled
substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
WHEREAS, The Controlled Substances Act (Public Law 91-513, 84
Stat. 1236) was enacted by the 91st Congress and became
effective May 1, 1971; and
WHEREAS, Under the Controlled Substances Act, a Schedule I
controlled drug or other substance is considered to have a high
potential for abuse and dependence, no currently accepted
medical use in treatment and a lack of accepted safety for use
under medical supervision; and
WHEREAS, Cannabis is currently a Schedule I controlled drug
or other substance under the Controlled Substances Act; and
WHEREAS, There are no exceptions under Federal law for the
application of cannabis for medicinal purposes even if the use
is sanctioned by State law; and
WHEREAS, As of May 2021, a total of 36 states and four
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territories regulate cannabis for the recommendation,
registration and dispensing for approved patients; and
WHEREAS, As of June 2021, at least 18 states, two territories
and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation to
regulate cannabis for adult use; and
WHEREAS, Scientific research has shown cannabis may be
helpful in treating symptoms of epilepsy, nausea and vomiting
associated with cancer chemotherapy, loss of appetite and weight
loss associated with HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis,
anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome,
Tourette syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder and sleep
disorder; and
WHEREAS, The World Health Organization has called for
cannabis to be removed from the most restrictive category of the
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961; and
WHEREAS, The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs
voted to reclassify cannabis from the strict Schedule IV
classification of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs that
includes dangerous and highly addictive drugs such as heroin;
and
WHEREAS, Under the Controlled Substances Act, other Schedule
I controlled substances include heroin, and Schedule II
controlled substances include cocaine, methamphetamine,
hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, In 2019 alone, more than 36,000 Americans died from
drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids, and the latest
provisional drug overdose death counts through May 2020 suggest
an acceleration of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids
during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, Rescheduling cannabis will establish an important
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step in harmonizing Federal and State policy to improve public
health, reduce criminal justice expenditures, raise tax revenue
and usher in economic growth; and
WHEREAS, Removing cannabis as a Schedule I controlled
substance will facilitate medical research, ensure patient
access and remove Federal prohibitions; and
WHEREAS, Billions in taxpayer dollars are spent every year in
Federal expenditures attributable to cannabis prohibition
enforcement in the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, Federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug
offenses result in nonviolent cannabis offenders serving long
sentences often disproportionate to their crime; and
WHEREAS, The United States Attorney General can initiate a
review process to consider available evidence and change a
controlled substance's schedule classification; and
WHEREAS, Under this action, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, in conjunction with the United States Department
of Health and Human Services, would be directed to carry out a
review process to reschedule a controlled substance, such as
when the Drug Enforcement Administration rescheduled hydrocodone
combination products or opioid-based prescription painkillers
from Schedule III to Schedule II in 2014; and
WHEREAS, Congress has the authority to pass a law that
changes or restricts a controlled substance's schedule
classification; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States, President of the United States, Attorney General of the
United States, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of
Health and Human Services to remove cannabis as a Schedule I
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controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
member of Congress from Pennsylvania, and to the President of
the United States, the Attorney General of the United States,
the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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