{"id":58924,"date":"2022-12-05T14:49:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T22:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/bidens-health-secretary-shares-marijuana-scheduling-news-at-420-again\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T17:45:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T01:45:24","slug":"bidens-health-secretary-shares-marijuana-scheduling-news-at-420-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/bidens-health-secretary-shares-marijuana-scheduling-news-at-420-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s Health Secretary Shares Marijuana Scheduling News At 4:20\u2014Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The Biden administration\u2019s top health official on Monday tweeted a link to a Marijuana Moment article that discusses the president\u2019s recent administrative cannabis scheduling directive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra posted the link at precisely 4:20pm ET\u2014the second time during his tenure that he shared marijuana policy news at that symbolic time.<\/p>\n

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At the direction of @POTUS<\/a>, we\u2019re continuing to examine how marijuana is scheduled. We\u2019re looking at what the evidence tells us \u2013 and that will guide what we do. https:\/\/t.co\/KrGPLfXjff<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) December 5, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Federal officials have tweeted plenty of cannabis policy news in the past, and they typically wouldn\u2019t warrant individualized coverage. But in this case, the official heads up a top department that plays a critical role in an active marijuana scheduling review\u2014and the 4:20 timing of the post did not go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

As most readers will likely understand, 4:20, 4\/20 and 420 are nods to cannabis culture. And while the timing of this post could perhaps be chalked up to coincidence, it\u2019s not the first time that Becerra\u2019s official government Twitter account has shared marijuana news at exactly that time.<\/p>\n

On the day the President Joe Biden first announced his scheduling review, the secretary\u2019s account posted a tweet noting the action at 4:20pm ET, saying that he looks forward to working with the U.S. attorney general to fulfill the administrative mandate.<\/p>\n

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Looking forward to working with Attorney General Garland to answer @POTUS<\/a>\u2019 call to action to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. https:\/\/t.co\/aXMcWCjJh2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) October 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Of course, officials don\u2019t usually tweet their own content from these government accounts, so one might reasonably infer that it could be a cheeky staffer scheduling the posts.<\/p>\n

Marijuana Moment reached out to HHS for comment, but a representative was not immediately available.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the direction of @POTUS, we\u2019re continuing to examine how marijuana is scheduled,\u201d Becerra said in the new tweet accompanying the article link. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at what the evidence tells us\u2014and that will guide what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the gist of what he\u2019s said repeatedly since the president issued the scheduling review directive in early October. Biden also granted a mass marijuana pardon for Americans who\u2019ve committed federal possession offenses and encouraged governors to follow suit at the state level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to take a look at what science tells us and what the evidence tells us,\u201d Becerra, who has a\u00a0considerable record supporting cannabis reform<\/a> as a congressman and as California\u2019s attorney general, said at the recent overdose prevention event. \u201cThat will guide what we do\u2014and we hope that will guide what the federal government does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the president\u2019s cannabis pardons and scheduling announcement, the secretary said that the department would \u201cwork as quickly as we can\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to carry out the scientific review. And\u00a0he\u2019s already discussed the issue<\/a>\u00a0with the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to that end.<\/p>\n

Separately, the White House drug czar said recently that that the president\u2019s action was \u201chistoric,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0adding that there are \u201cclearly\u201d medical benefits of cannabis.<\/p>\n

Like HHS, DOJ has similarly\u00a0committed to quickly carrying out the separate scheduling review<\/a>\u00a0the president directed, which could result in a recommendation to place cannabis in a lower schedule or remove it altogether, effectively legalizing the plant under federal law.<\/p>\n

Separately, Biden recently\u00a0cheered a move by Oregon\u2019s governor<\/a> to grant tens of thousands of marijuana pardons this week, which followed his own federal clemency action. And he says other states should \u201cfollow Oregon\u2019s example.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president also officially signed a marijuana research bill into law<\/a> last week, making history by enacting the first piece of standalone federal cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

A series of polls have shown that Americans\u00a0strongly support the president\u2019s pardon action<\/a>, and they also don\u2019t think that marijuana should be federally classified as a Schedule I drug.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, House lawmakers on Monday delayed committee consideration of a large-scale defense bill<\/a>\u2014which advocates had hoped to see advance with marijuana reform provisions attached\u2014amid disagreements over several key issues that have not been resolved. And the offices of several Republican senators met with the Department of Justice to discuss their concerns with pending cannabis banking reforms.<\/p>\n

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Fate Of Marijuana Banking Reform Uncertain As Lawmakers Delay Defense Bill Consideration Amid Disagreements<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Biden\u2019s Health Secretary Shares Marijuana Scheduling News At 4:20\u2014Again<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Biden\u2019s Health Secretary Shares Marijuana Scheduling News At 4:20\u2014Again<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Biden administration\u2019s top health official on Monday tweeted a link to a Marijuana Moment article that discusses the president\u2019s recent administrative cannabis scheduling directive. U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra posted the link at precisely 4:20pm ET\u2014the second time during his tenure that he shared marijuanaContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58925,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58924\/revisions\/58925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}