U.S. senate to consider changing Marijuana status from Class 1 to Class 2

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

High potential for abuse? Based on what?

The argument is that people are willing to break the law to get marijuana, so that constitutes a high potential for abuse. In any case a move to schedule 2 is long overdue, and clinical studies can provide the necessary evidence to further move marijuana to more appropriate classifications.

But what's the rationale for saying there's a higher potential for abuse now than before? Because some states legalized it and it's more readily available and accepted socially now? That seems crazy.

In the actual law, Schedule I substances are supposed to have a roughly equivalent potential for abuse as Schedule II drugs, but have no accepted medical use.  In practice, the DEA has used Schedule I as a catch all for anything with no accepted medical use regardless of the level of potential abuse.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

can't the Executive reschedule whatever it wants unilaterally?  I know the DEA has authority to add substances to Sched I, and they add a couple dozen every year.

Yes and no.  When it comes to drugs that are on Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (roughly equivalent to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act), it would take Congress to overrule that scheduling or it would take the International Narcotics Control Board choosing to reschedule that drug.  At present, the INCB has cannabis and cannabis resin on schedule IV and some cannabinoids on schedule I of the convention (equivalent to schedule II of the CSA).  This is because the CSA tells the executive to generally follow the INCB recommendations.  Unless the INCB reschedules cannabis to a less restrictive schedule, the DEA can't move marihuana to schedule II on its own.  If the INCB were to reschedule, the DEA could as well, but would not be obligated to.  The INCB schedules under the SCND and the CPS (Convention on Psychotropic Substances.) serves as a floor to the DEA schedules under the CSA. The DEA can be stricter on its own than the INCB, but to be laxer takes an act of Congress.