{"id":68108,"date":"2023-08-30T13:33:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T21:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/08\/30\/top-federal-health-official-confirms-at-exactly-420-that-his-department-is-recommending-marijuana-rescheduling\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T03:46:09","slug":"top-federal-health-official-confirms-at-exactly-420-that-his-department-is-recommending-marijuana-rescheduling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/08\/30\/top-federal-health-official-confirms-at-exactly-420-that-his-department-is-recommending-marijuana-rescheduling\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Federal Health Official Confirms At Exactly 4:20 That His Department Is Recommending Marijuana Rescheduling"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The head of the top U.S. health agency is confirming news that his department is recommending marijuana rescheduling<\/a>\u2014posting about the development at exactly 4:20pm ET in an apparent wink to cannabis culture.<\/p>\n

Amid a flurry of reactions to reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is advising the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, Secretary Xavier Becerra shared a post about it at the symbolic time on X (the social media site formerly known as Twitter).<\/p>\n

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I can now share that, following the data and science, @HHSGov<\/a> has responded to @POTUS<\/a>\u2019 directive to me for the Department to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously. pic.twitter.com\/p84x8p07sP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) August 30, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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If anyone thinks the timing is a coincidence, they probably haven\u2019t been closely following Becerra\u2019s account, as the Biden cabinet official has made a habit of talking about marijuana policy on social media at 4:20 on the dot.<\/p>\n

On the day that President Joe Biden announced the scheduling review, for example, the secretary posted about his commitment to following through on the directive\u2014at 4:20.<\/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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Becerra then shared a Marijuana Moment article in December<\/a> that offered updates on the administrative cannabis scheduling review\u2014also at 4:20.<\/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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Now his cheeky social media team has done it again, playing into the number most closely associated with marijuana on the day that it was revealed that HHS is recommending a significant loosening of federal restrictions on cannabis.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes: \u201cOnce is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n

The secretary\u2019s post on Wednesday came as numerous lawmakers, advocates and state officials reacted to the scheduling development<\/a>, with many applauding the potential reform while others pushed for complete legalization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can now share that, following the data and science, [HHS] has responded to [Biden\u2019s] directive to me for the Department to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA,\u201d Becerra, who told Marijuana Moment in June that his agency planned to complete its work this year<\/a>, said in the new post. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s significant excitement about the development, nothing is final about the scheduling decision. DEA said it \u201cwill now initiate its review\u201d taking into account FDA\u2019s findings, but it makes the final call and isn\u2019t required to follow through on a Schedule III reclassification.<\/p>\n

A White House spokesperson told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that the \u201cadministrative process is an independent process led by HHS and DOJ and guided by the evidence,\u201d so president\u2019s team will not be commenting on the agency\u2019s recommendation at this time.<\/p>\n

Politically, moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III would allow the president to say that he\u2019s helped accomplish a major reform, facilitating an administrative review that may result in rescheduling more than 50 years after cannabis was placed in the most restrictive category as the federal government launched a war on drugs.<\/p>\n

This could also bolster momentum for congressional efforts to further reform federal cannabis laws. As lawmakers come back from the August recess and continue to try to pass cannabis banking legislation, they will be able to point to the HHS recommendation as evidence of the urgency to normalize the industry.<\/p>\n

Of course, advocates\u2019 highest hopes for the HHS review was that it would lead to a descheduling recommendation, where marijuana would be completely removed from the CSA and treated the same as alcohol in the eyes of the government. Some have also voiced concerns that a Schedule III reclassification could negatively impact state markets, with FDA potentially assuming a more hands-on role with respect to cannabis.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, last week,\u00a0Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pressed DEA Administrator Anne Milgram<\/a>\u00a0to expand on her recent remarks about the origin and timeline of the president\u2019s marijuana scheduling review directive. Specifically, he\u2019s asking for a copy of a letter that Milgram said the president sent to the attorney general and HHS secretary last year directing the review. He also wants an update on whether the administrator asked HHS about the timetable for their work,\u00a0as she told him she\u2019d do during a recent House Judiciary subcommittee hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As far as the alleged rescheduling letter from Biden is concerned, an attorney filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with HHS in an effort to obtain a copy of the letter. But earlier this month,\u00a0the department said it had \u201cno records\u201d of such a document<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Lawmakers, Governor And Advocates Share Mixed Reactions To Federal Marijuana Rescheduling Recommendation From Top Health Agency<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Top Federal Health Official Confirms At Exactly 4:20 That His Department Is Recommending Marijuana Rescheduling<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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The head of the top U.S. health agency is confirming news that his department is recommending marijuana rescheduling\u2014posting about the development at exactly 4:20pm ET in an apparent wink to cannabis culture. Amid a flurry of reactions to reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) isContinue 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\/68108"}],"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=68108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68109,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68108\/revisions\/68109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}