In Rescheduling Comments, Transport, Safety, and Alcohol Groups Spotlight Impairment Concerns

Monday marked the end of the public comment period for the Biden Administration’s proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA. 

We’re sifting through the pile of more than 40,000 comments to identify the major — or, in some cases, surprising — entities that submitted comments. 

This batch focuses on transportation, safety, and alcohol groups. You can also find comments from justice, law enforcement, labor, and religious entities and medical and research entities. You’ll notice that these are all non-cannabis entities. Tomorrow, we’ll have cannabis regulators, advocacy groups, companies, etc.

Remember: there was another deadline, back in June, to request a hearing, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time. Catch up on our coverage of who submitted those requests here.

 • AAA (support)

“AAA supports rescheduling marijuana and decriminalizing possession of the drug, especially in the face of continued Congressional action towards full federal legalization or complete removal of marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. We believe this is a more prudent step to addressing disparities within the criminal justice system as they pertain to drug-related crimes while maintaining legal ramifications for those who put others in danger due to impairment by marijuana while behind the wheel.”

 • Alliance for Chemical Distribution (no stated position)

But, they raise concerns. “While ACD does not take issue with this rule’s intent, the Alliance is gravely concerned that it lacks consideration of these workplace implications. Simply rescheduling cannabis products without the addition of uniform national provisions for drug testing in safety-sensitive environments and liability protection for employers will lead to a complicated rollout of this significant policy change and could cause catastrophic injury and serious public harm.”

 • American Gas Association, American Public Gas Association, and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (no stated position)

But, they raise concerns. “We strongly urge DOJ to clarify the impact of its proposed action on transportation-sector drug testing programs and, at a minimum, ensure that any final action rescheduling marijuana includes, or is accompanied, by an explicit safety carve-out8 that would allow DOT-regulated testing to continue uninterrupted.” 

• American Petroleum Institute (no stated position)

But, they raise concerns. “We strongly urge DOJ to reconsider this proposed action until such time as employers have access to a uniformly approved method to test for active, psychoactive marijuana in impaired employees and, at a minimum, ensure that any final action rescheduling marijuana includes, or is accompanied, by an explicit safety carve-out that would allow DOT-regulated testing to continue uninterrupted.” 

 • American Road & Transportation Builders Association (no stated position)

But, they raise concerns. “ARTBA respectfully requests that DEA fully and carefully consider the impacts to workplace safety prior to finalizing this rule. We ask that DEA consult with appropriate federal agency partners to ensure that employers need not compromise jobsite safety standards to comply with DEA policies.”

 • American Trucking Associations (no stated position)

But, they raise concerns. “We urge the Agency to work with appropriate agencies, including DOT and HHS, to prioritize transportation and public safety by ensuring that the DOT’s drug testing program for safety-sensitive workers does not experience disruptions. We also urge the DOJ and DEA to take into consideration the robust and compelling data showing marijuana’s troubling impacts on transportation and highway safety, as well as possible regulatory measures needed to address these unintended consequences.” 

 • Association of American Railroads and American Short Line and Railroad Association (no stated position)

“The Associations request that, if the NPRM is finalized, DEA take steps to ensure that DOT’s existing testing program that includes marijuana remains in place and to ensure that  there is careful coordination between DEA, HHS, DOT, testing laboratories, and industry participants so that no disruptions occur to the existing DOT testing program.” 

 • National Association for Pupil Transportation (oppose)

“NAPT does not seek to infringe in any way on the right of Americans to partake in marijuana or alcohol in accordance with the law. Our statements simply reflect our mission to ensure the safety of children while they are riding on our yellow school buses.” 

 • National Transportation Safety Board (no position)

Reiterates concerns about “transportation safety effects” of rescheduling, and notes that NTSB “will participate in the hearing process if given the opportunity.” 

 • Passenger Vessel Association (no stated position)

“Should marijuana be rescheduled as proposed in the NPRM, there needs to be a testing method available to employers that will determine if an individual subject to a random test, selected for cause, or if involved in an accident/casualty, is impaired by marijuana at the time of the test.”

 • The American Waterways Operators (no stated position)

“Before proceeding, the Department of Justice must complete a thorough interagency review (to include DOT, Coast Guard, and DHHS) of the impacts rescheduling could have on federally required workplace drug testing programs and take coordinated actions to establish any new authorities needed to continue marijuana testing for transportation workers as a precursor to any regulatory action on rescheduling marijuana.” 

 • Truckload Carriers Association (oppose)

“The current classification as a Schedule I drug helps maintain the rigorous safety standards vital for the trucking industry. Reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III could undermine these efforts, leading to increased accidents, higher legal liabilities, and compromised highway safety. We recommend maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance and supporting initiatives like hair testing that enhance drug detection and safety within the trucking industry.”

 • National Safety Council (support, with caution)

“While NSC supports the proposed efforts by the DEA to reclassify cannabis on the schedule of narcotics from Schedule I to Schedule III, there are potential adverse outcomes for the health and safety of workplaces and roadways within the United States if this action is not appropriately paired with substantive risk mitigation efforts.”

• Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (no position)

“While DISCUS does not take a position on the reclassification of marijuana, we strongly urge any decisionmakers evaluating new laws or regulations to look to the time tested taxation, regulatory and responsibility structures that govern the distilled spirits industry.” 

• Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) (no position stated)

“Responsibility.org firmly believes that any change in the legal status of marijuana must include strong efforts to prevent underage access and consumption of cannabis and cannabis-impaired and multiple substance impaired driving.”

• National Beer Wholesalers Association (no position)

“These comments are not offered in support of or in opposition to the proposed reclassification of marijuana, but to offer several observations related to lessons from the alcohol industry’s regulatory history that the government may wish to consider before proceeding further on this issue, concerns on the issue of testing for marijuana impairment, and a reminder that the CSA specifically excludes alcohol.”