Biden administration officials recommended in a document released Friday that marijuana be classified as a prohibited substance in the far less regulated Schedule III class, rather than its current Schedule I classification.
Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sent a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Director Anne Milgram on August 29, 2023, recommending that cannabis be deregulated. did. From Class I, the most stringent drug classification, to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act; according to to the report. The report reveals that marijuana can be used to relieve a variety of medical conditions, especially pain, and the substance's potential for abuse and public health risks is lower than other scheduled drugs. he claimed. (Related: Biden administration launches investigation into Boeing following incident onboard Alaska flight)
“These assessments are consistent across databases, across substances, and over time, while marijuana abuse produces clear evidence of a risk to public health, the risk is greater than that of most other comparable drugs. “This indicates that this is relatively low,” the report said. .
The report is the result of President Joe Biden's executive order in October 2022 that asked HHS and the Attorney General to review the classification of this substance, according to the report. The government has conducted four other reviews of marijuana since 2000, most recently in 2015, when it rejected a request to ease regulations on marijuana.
Oklahoma state officials said federal authorities have directed local authorities to release illegal aliens arrested by ICE detainees who were involved in an illegal marijuana cultivation operation.
“It happens every day in Oklahoma.” pic.twitter.com/Fu0KRbzJli
— Jennie Taer🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@JennieSTaer) January 10, 2024
A decision on whether marijuana will be reclassified is expected from the DEA in the coming months. according to To Politico. Already, 24 states have legalized possession of the substance for adults, and 38 states have given the green light for use in medical programs, even though the drug is still federally restricted.
According to the report, an FDA study found that only 10% of substance use disorder hospitalizations in 2020 were for marijuana, much lower than for other Schedule I drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Similarly, only 10 to 20 percent of regular marijuana users had psychological dependence, which was lower than for tobacco, opiates, or even alcohol.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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