Walking across my college quad on a weekend evening, you might recognize the familiar fragrance of marijuana wafting through the air. Around 40 percent of US undergraduate students surveyed in 2022 reported using cannabis within the past year; nearly one in four reported using it within the past month. D.A.R.E. programs are outdated to my generation.
But despite rising public acceptance of marijuana, federal prohibition means we can still face harmful legal consequences for using it.
In May, the Biden administration proposed reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to the less-restrictive Schedule III. While this may seem like progress, ultimately it would uphold the status quo. Schedule III status would create tax benefits for cannabis businesses, and lower barriers to scientific research, but it keeps harms of criminalization in place. Only descheduling, not rescheduling, would end those harms.
Many college students directly impacted by criminalization aren’t aware of this window for public comment.
Until July 22, the public has the rare opportunity to submit comment on marijuana’s federal legal status. Many college students directly impacted by marijuana criminalization—especially Black students, Latinx students, noncitizens, and poor and working class students—aren’t aware of this window for public comment.
Research suggests that the majority of the country believes marijuana should be legalized for adult use. And young people are the strongest supporters out of any demographic, with over 70 percent of people aged 18 to 29 in favor of legalization. Even for students under 21, legalization would support universities in revising or removing discriminatory punishments for cannabis use that don’t apply to non-controlled substances commonly found on college campuses.
Because they’re not on the CSA, alcohol and cigarettes are less stigmatized and more accepted by universities even though both are associated with serious health risks, which marijuana is not. The potential for health harms like overdose or cancer doesn’t justify criminalization, but students should not have their futures jeopardized over use of a drug that has none of the risks of alcohol or combustible tobacco.
Studies have shown that state-level legalization doesn’t change marijuana use patterns among young adults, suggesting that federal descheduling would not result in increased use either. As the next generation to be burdened by marijuana prohibition, we must seize this opportunity and advocate for the removal of marijuana from the CSA entirely.
While the Aid Elimination Penalty, which allowed federal financial aid to be stripped from students caught with marijuana, was repealed in 2020, universities still implement punishments of their own. These can impact employment and graduate school prospects, and, in some cases, loss of other types of financial aid. In Georgia, students who are convicted of marijuana-related charges lose eligibility for state funds until the end of the following school term.
Enforcing marijuana criminalization by taking away need-based financial aid creates more inequity among students. Research shows that students who did not receive financial aid in their second year of undergraduate school were less likely to graduate—which can potentially cut their job prospects in half.
The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act mandates that, regardless of state-level legal status, universities must discipline students found to be using cannabis or else risk losing federal funding. Decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level would remove that pressure.
Beyond the repercussions of revoking financial aid, students penalized for marijuana infractions can end up with disciplinary records that follow them even after they graduate. Applications to jobs or graduate schools often require the disclosure of university disciplinary incidents, including those related to marijuana even in states where it’s legal.
Criminal records can pose an even larger challenge. One study found that job applicants without marijuana convictions received more callbacks compared to their peers who had records. While some states have passed “ban the box” laws that remove questions about criminal-legal history from job applications, background checks can still be conducted later in the hiring process, and in most states the laws don’t apply to private employers.
Every 25 seconds in the US, someone is arrested for simple drug possession. Submitting public comment takes the same amount of time.
Graduate school applications often have questions about prior convictions. In some cases, applicants with criminal records are required to go through a different process.
“Ban the box” policies can mitigate some of the collateral consequences of marijuana criminalization, but federal descheduling would remove those consequences altogether.
Every 25 seconds in the United States, someone is arrested for simple drug possession. Submitting a public comment urging the Biden administration to deschedule marijuana takes the same amount of time. Submissions through United for Marijuana Decriminalization or the Federal eRulemaking portal will remain open until 11:59 pm on July 22.
Image (cropped) via United States Drug Enforcement Administration
The Influence Foundation, which operates Filter, previously received a restricted grant from the Drug Policy Alliance to support a Drug War Journalism Diversity Fellowship.