The Biden administration\u2019s drug czar said this week that the Justice Department\u2019s recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is one \u201cbased on science and evidence,\u201d adding that the change will ease research restrictions around the use of cannabis to treat \u201cchronic illnesses, chronic pain and diseases like cancer.\u201d But he appears to have oversimplified what the change will mean for legal prescription access to medical marijuana.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been quite a bit of science that has developed over the last few years, certainly since more than a half century ago when those placements happened, that show us that this may not be where it belongs,\u201d Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said in comments to WGCU, referring to cannabis\u2019s current Schedule I status.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the move to Schedule III, where there are recognizable medical benefits to a substance, is one that is a recommendation based on science and evidence,\u201d he added. \u201cIt does make sense to make sure that we\u2019re pursuing science and evidence when it comes to medications and use those medications for Americans with chronic illnesses, chronic pain, diseases like cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
It appears the drug czar may have oversimplified the process of accessing medical marijuana once the rescheduling move takes place, however, suggesting that the change itself could make cannabis federally legally available to patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny drug that is between Schedule II and Schedule V can be prescribed when appropriate by a licensed provider who has a DEA registration, like I do,\u201d Gupta told WGCU<\/a>. \u201cFor a full Schedule I, there is no approved medical use. So this change would allow providers, clinicians across the country to be able to prescribe marijuana as a Schedule III drug.\u201d<\/p>\n As @POTUS<\/a> said, too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why our Administration is taking historic action to reform our nation\u2019s outdated laws. https:\/\/t.co\/a9F9611w7g<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rahul Gupta (@DrGupta46) May 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A report published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) earlier this month disagrees. It says further action from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be needed<\/a> before marijuana products become available by prescription.<\/p>\n \u201cIf marijuana were moved from Schedule I to Schedule III, it could in theory be dispensed and used by prescription for medical purposes,\u201d the report from congressional researchers says. \u201cHowever, prescription drugs must be approved by FDA. Although FDA has approved some drugs derived from or related to cannabis, marijuana itself is not an FDA-approved drug.\u201d<\/p>\n CRS has also noted that rescheduling would not legalize cannabis or bring state-regulated markets<\/a>\u2014including medical marijuana systems\u2014\u201cinto compliance\u201d with federal law.<\/p>\n Broadly, Gupta in the recent interview positioned Schedule III as a middle ground between making marijuana legally available to medical patients while preventing drug use by young people.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, the science takes us in a direction that there are some medical uses of marijuana. We must allow Americans to take advantage of that, for example, those who are suffering from chronic pain, other chronic illnesses, cancer, this may be something of a better option for them,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, we must understand that for children whose brains are still developing, up to the age of 22 to 25, it\u2019s important that any illicit substance, whether it be marijuana or others, not interfere in the development of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPrevention for young people of any drugs is still important and key,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut at the same time, allowing us to be able to have appropriate science-based categorization of drugs that can help Americans is important. Of course, the increasing concentrations of THC and others are something that concerns all of us. And one way to address that is by having it as Schedule III.\u201d<\/p>\n Gupta also said that \u201ctoo many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana over the past more than a half century.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why, back in 2022, President Biden had requested that Department of Justice and Health and Human Services services conduct this review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Biden administration officials have been touting the president\u2019s actions on cannabis since 2022, including rounds of pardons he\u2019s granted to people with past drug-related federal convictions. Vice President Kamala Harris last month, for example, reiterated at an event last month she doesn\u2019t believe \u201cpeople should have to go to jail for smoking weed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe have issued\u2014as an administration with President Biden\u2019s leadership\u2014more pardons and commutations than any recent administration at this point in their term,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, on marijuana: We have pardoned all people for federal convictions for simple marijuana possession.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates have been encouraged to see the administration continue to grant and promote clemency for people criminalized over drugs, but they\u2019ve also emphasized that thousands of people remain incarcerated over federal marijuana offenses.<\/p>\n In March, 36 members of Congress implored Biden to grant clemency to all Americans currently in federal prison over non-violent cannabis convictions<\/a>\u00a0by commuting their sentences, pointing out that the pardons he\u2019s issued to date for simple possession cases did not release a single person from incarceration.<\/p>\n A former drug czar who served under President Barack Obama recently took a sharply different position on marijuana rescheduling than Gupta. Former ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske recently said that cannabis is \u201cnot medicine\u201d and that rescheduling was \u201call Big Cannabis.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t people my age that are just old hippies that want to open up a pot shop somewhere\u201d Kerlikowske said on the podcast of former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R). \u201cThis is a huge business like Big Tobacco. Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the proposed rule to federally reschedule marijuana was officially posted last week, kicking off a public comment period that\u2019s expected to elicit a major response<\/a> from supporters and opponents of cannabis reform.<\/p>\n Marijuana reform advocates and stakeholders have made clear that they intend to leverage the opportunity, with some planning to support the reclassification while others intend to call for descheduling cannabis altogether. Prohibitionists are expected to oppose the incremental policy change and seek to keep marijuana in Schedule I, and there\u2019s also a looming threat of litigation.<\/p>\n While DOJ will take all public comments submitted by July 22 into consideration as it weighs the reform, it said in the notice that one of the topics its especially interested in hearing about is the \u201cunique economic impacts\u201d of the rescheduling proposal<\/a> given that state-level legalization has created a \u201cmultibillion dollar industry\u201d that stands to benefit from possible federal tax relief under the reform.<\/p>\n When Biden announced the administration\u2019s rescheduling action<\/a> last week, he described it as consistent with his belief that nobody should be jailed over cannabis possession. As a statutory matter, that wouldn\u2019t necessarily apply with simple rescheduling because it\u2019d remain federally illegal. But the White House has not publicly commented on the economic impacts of the incremental reform.<\/p>\n On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and colleagues have reintroduced legislation to federally legalize cannabis<\/a>\u00a0and impose certain regulations. The bill\u2019s prospects are dubious in the current divided Congress, however.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. House said that the Biden administration\u2019s move to reschedule marijuana is a \u201cstep in the right direction,\u201d but it should be\u00a0followed up with congressional action such as passing the legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0Schumer filed.<\/p>\n In a recent interview with Fox News, former\u00a0DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said it \u201cabsolutely looks like\u201d the agency will follow through<\/a>\u00a0with moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA.<\/p>\n Biden has separately issued two rounds of mass pardons for people who\u2019ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses. Again, a Schedule III reclassification would not legalize cannabis or free people still incarcerated over cannabis.<\/p>\n During his run for the presidency, Biden pledged to move cannabis to Schedule II<\/a>\u2014a stricter category compared to what\u2019s been proposed by his administration.<\/p>\n California Lawmakers Approve Bill To Legalize Marijuana Cafes, Months After Governor\u2019s Veto Of Earlier Measure<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Biden Drug Czar Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is \u2018Based On Science And Evidence\u2019 But Misstates Impact On Prescription Access<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration\u2019s drug czar said this week that the Justice Department\u2019s recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is one \u201cbased on science and evidence,\u201d adding that the change will ease research restrictions around the use of cannabis to treatContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"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\/75529"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75530,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75529\/revisions\/75530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Biden Drug Czar Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is \u2018Based On Science And Evidence\u2019 But Misstates Impact On Prescription Access<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"