The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has made a historic decision\u2014agreeing with the top federal health agency and proposing to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n
The decision comes more than 50 years after cannabis was first listed as a strictly prohibited drug, on par with heroin and defined as a substance with no known medical value and a significant abuse potential.<\/p>\n
Moving marijuana to Schedule III, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)<\/a>, also carries major implications for state-legal cannabis businesses. If it\u2019s ultimately implemented, it will mean that marijuana firms can officially take federal tax deductions that they\u2019ve been barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.<\/p>\n The proposed rescheduling determination, first reported<\/a> by the Associated Press, would also free up research barriers that are currently imposed on scientists who wish to study Schedule I substances.<\/p>\n The next step in the rescheduling process is for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to review the rule. If approved, it would go to public comment before potentially being finalized.<\/p>\n DEA and the Justice Department declined to comment on reporting about the scheduling determination in response to inquiries from Marijuana Moment on Tuesday. The White House did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.<\/p>\n Moving cannabis to another schedule will not legalize it<\/a>, however. Participants in state cannabis markets would continue to run afoul of federal law, and existing criminal penalties for certain marijuana-related activity would remain in force.<\/p>\n DEA\u2019s decision means it has generally accepted the findings from a nearly year-long scientific review into cannabis that HHS carried out before sharing its scheduling recommendation.<\/p>\n HHS determined that cannabis \u201chas a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States\u201d and has a \u201cpotential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal health officials said their review found that more than 30,000 healthcare professionals \u201cacross 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere exists widespread, current experience with medical use of the substance by [health care practitioners] operating in accordance with implemented jurisdiction-authorized programs, where medical use is recognized by entities that regulate the practice of medicine,\u201d HHS said.<\/p>\n In terms of relative safety compared to other substances, the federal health review concluded that \u201cthe risks to the public health posed by marijuana are low compared to other drugs of abuse (e.g., heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines), based on an evaluation of various epidemiological databases for [emergency department] visits, hospitalizations, unintentional exposures, and most importantly, for overdose deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor overdose deaths, marijuana is always in the lowest ranking among comparator drugs,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n DEA has been under significant pressure from the Biden administration,\u00a0particularly Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>, to complete the review in a timely manner.<\/p>\n Also, a coalition of 21 congressional lawmakers\u00a0told DEA this week to \u201cpromptly remove marijuana from Schedule I,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0while recognizing that the agency may be \u201cnavigating internal disagreement\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough some at the DEA have indicated that the agency\u2019s\u00a0review of an HHS scheduling recommendation often takes up to six months<\/a>, almost\u00a0eight<\/em>\u00a0months<\/em>\u00a0have now passed since the DEA received HHS\u2019s recommendation,\u201d they said. \u201cWhile we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana\u2019s misguided placement in Schedule I.\u201d<\/p>\n That point references reporting in The Wall Street Journal that said\u00a0DEA officials are \u201cat odds\u201d with the Biden administration over the scheduling review<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\u00a0says there\u2019s \u201cno reason\u201d for DEA to \u201cdelay\u201d making a marijuana scheduling decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last month, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra defended his agency\u2019s rescheduling recommendation during a Senate committee hearing and also told cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy that he should\u00a0pay DEA a visit and \u201cknock on their door\u201d for answers about the timing<\/a>\u00a0of their decision.<\/p>\n This is a developing story and will be updated.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n DEA, FDA And Other Agencies To Discuss Marijuana\u2019s Potential To Treat Pain At Upcoming Federal Research Meeting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post DEA Agrees To Reschedule Marijuana Under Federal Law In Historic Move Following Biden-Directed Health Agency\u2019s Recommendation<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has made a historic decision\u2014agreeing with the top federal health agency and proposing to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The decision comes more than 50 years after cannabis was first listed as a strictly prohibited drug,Continue 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\/74785"}],"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=74785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74786,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74785\/revisions\/74786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\nRead More: DEA Agrees To Reschedule Marijuana Under Federal Law In Historic Move Following Biden-Directed Health Agency\u2019s Recommendation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"