Kevin Allen has spent over ten years behind bars for selling $20 worth of marijuana. Despite a life sentence being reduced, he’s still serving 35 years for a nonviolent offense in a system that profits off cannabis while punishing its past users.
Federal Marijuana Rescheduling: A Potential Catalyst for State-Level Transformations
The potential rescheduling of marijuana by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could set off a chain reaction of changes not only on a federal level but also across individual states due to "trigger laws". Depending on how states respond to federal rescheduling, this could result in automatic state-level rescheduling, require further action from the state legislature or an appropriate state authority, or leave scheduling decisions unaffected. The impact of the changes could cover politics, criminal justice, and medical marijuana regulations, possibly sparking interstate cannabis commerce and changes in law enforcement practices.