2023-08-31 03:58:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services has provided the DEA with a recommendation related to marijuana policy, a move Senate leaders hailed Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug. .
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on platform X, formerly Twitter, that the agency has responded to President Joe Biden’s request “to submit to the DEA a classification recommendation on marijuana.”
“We have worked to ensure that the scientific assessment is completed and shared expeditiously,” he added.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had recommended that marijuana be changed from a Schedule I controlled substance to a Schedule I controlled substance. III.
“HHS has done the right thing,” Schumer declared. “The DEA must now follow up on this important step to significantly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.”
Recategorizing the drug would reduce or possibly eliminate criminal penalties for possession. Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin and LSD.
According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs have “no currently accepted medical use for any treatment” in the United States, “there is a lack of agreed safety for use of the drug and other substance under medical supervision,” and “has a high potential for abuse”.
Schedule III drugs have “less potential for abuse than drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II” and “abuse of the drug or other substance may result in moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.”
These currently include ketamine and some anabolic steroids.
Biden filed for the review in October 2022, when he pardoned thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden issued a statement calling for the removal of marijuana from any DEA classification. “However, the HHS recommendation to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug is not irrelevant,” he added. “If the HHS recommendation is finally implemented, it will be a historic step for a nation whose cannabis policies have been out of step with reality.”
Bloomberg News was the first outlet to report on the HHS recommendation.
Reacting to Bloomberg’s article, the nonprofit Cannabis Council of America said it was “enthusiastic about today’s news… The recategorization will have a wide range of benefits, including signaling to the criminal justice system that the cannabis has a low priority and provide an economic lifeline to the cannabis industry.”
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