(WKYT) – State-licensed medical marijuana is now federally classified as a schedule 3 drug.
On Thursday, the Trump administration lowered the classification from a schedule 1 drug, recognizing the plant has a lower potential for abuse.
An activist for the Kentucky Cannabis Freedom Coalition says this decision looks good on paper.
“I see it in a different light. Because it’s not, ‘hey, we’ve declassified and you’ve got freedom,’ that’s not what was given to us. What we got was rescheduling,” said Robert Matheny, owner of Kentucky CBD Farmacy.
Impact on pricing and access
Matheny owns and operates a licensed hemp dispensary in Danville. He says rescheduling puts the drug under the control of insurance companies and pharmacies, which drives up the cash price. What he would have liked to see is a total declassification and consumer freedom.
“You’re going to get these products for free, as long as you qualify under that insurance, so that’s a positive for the less fortunate. The real issue with that is if we would deschedule, it will keep the price down and attainable to the same people we’re talking about,” Matheny said.
Although marijuana is now federally recognized as a less dangerous drug, people without a valid prescription can still face penalties.
Matheny believes the only benefit to the reclassification is opening the door to more legal studies on marijuana.
“But the only thing holding back the wonderful studies were these bad laws in the first place,” he said.