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MARIJUANA MOMENT
BIDEN DRUG CZAR SAYS MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING IS ‘BASED ON SCIENCE AND EVIDENCE’
BUT MISSTATES IMPACT ON PRESCRIPTION ACCESS
* Politics
* Biden Drug Czar Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is ‘Based On Science And
Evidence’ But Misstates Impact On Prescription Access
* New Hampshire Senate Panel Amends House-Passed Marijuana Legalization
Bill, Sending It To Final Floor Vote
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Universities To Private Firms Under Bill On Governor’s Desk
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After Governor’s Veto Of Earlier Measure
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Touting ‘Historical Highs’ On 4/20 Weekend
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Across $6 Billion Mark For Recreational Purchases
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Continued ‘Concern’ With Lack Of Criminal Justice Reform
* New Hampshire Senate Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill After Adopting
Changes To House-Passed Version
* Biden Makes Historic Marijuana Rescheduling Announcement, Applauding
‘Monumental’ Move To Reverse ‘Longstanding Inequities’
* Newsletter
* Feds accept cannabis rescheduling comments (Newsletter: May 22, 2024)
* DOJ weighs cannabis economic impact of rescheduling (Newsletter: May 21,
2024)
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POLITICS
BIDEN DRUG CZAR SAYS MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING IS ‘BASED ON SCIENCE AND EVIDENCE’
BUT MISSTATES IMPACT ON PRESCRIPTION ACCESS
Published
3 seconds ago
on
May 22, 2024
By
Ben Adlin
The Biden administration’s drug czar said this week that the Justice
Department’s recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of
the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is one “based on science and evidence,”
adding that the change will ease research restrictions around the use of
cannabis to treat “chronic illnesses, chronic pain and diseases like cancer.”
But he appears to have oversimplified what the change will mean for legal
prescription access to medical marijuana.
“It’s 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,” Rahul Gupta, the director
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said in comments to WGCU,
referring to cannabis’s current Schedule I status.
“So 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,” he
added. “It does make sense to make sure that we’re pursuing science and evidence
when it comes to medications and use those medications for Americans with
chronic illnesses, chronic pain, diseases like cancer.”
Germany Legalizes Possession Of Cannabis.
Germany Legalizes Possession Of Cannabis.
The bill to legalize marijuana nationwide in Germany was signed into law and is
now in effect. This came after the German government announced an end to
prohibition and began plans for a legal industry in 2022. Adults are now allowed
to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis and grow up to three plants for personal
use. From July 1, adults can join "social clubs" where they can buy up to 25
grams of cannabis, with a cap of 50 grams per month. Social clubs cannot be near
schools or playgrounds, only one for every 6,000 residents, and have a maximum
of 500 members. There will be an official analysis within 18 months to see
legalization's effect on youth safety.
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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.
“Any 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,” Gupta
told WGCU. “For 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.”
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 before marijuana products become available by
prescription.
“If marijuana were moved from Schedule I to Schedule III, it could in theory be
dispensed and used by prescription for medical purposes,” the report from
congressional researchers says. “However, 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.”
CRS has also noted that rescheduling would not legalize cannabis or bring
state-regulated markets—including medical marijuana systems—“into compliance”
with federal law.
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.
“Today, 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,” he said. “At the same time, we must
understand that for children whose brains are still developing, up to the age of
22 to 25, it’s important that any illicit substance, whether it be marijuana or
others, not interfere in the development of the brain.”
“Prevention for young people of any drugs is still important and key,” he
continued. “But 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.”
Gupta also said that “too many lives have been upended because of our failed
approach to marijuana over the past more than a half century.”
“That’s why, back in 2022, President Biden had requested that Department of
Justice and Health and Human Services services conduct this review,” he said.
Biden administration officials have been touting the president’s actions on
cannabis since 2022, including rounds of pardons he’s 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’t believe “people
should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”
“We have issued—as an administration with President Biden’s leadership—more
pardons and commutations than any recent administration at this point in their
term,” she said. “For example, on marijuana: We have pardoned all people for
federal convictions for simple marijuana possession.”
Advocates have been encouraged to see the administration continue to grant and
promote clemency for people criminalized over drugs, but they’ve also emphasized
that thousands of people remain incarcerated over federal marijuana offenses.
In March, 36 members of Congress implored Biden to grant clemency to all
Americans currently in federal prison over non-violent cannabis convictions by
commuting their sentences, pointing out that the pardons he’s issued to date for
simple possession cases did not release a single person from incarceration.
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 “not medicine” and that
rescheduling was “all Big Cannabis.”
“This isn’t people my age that are just old hippies that want to open up a pot
shop somewhere” Kerlikowske said on the podcast of former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono
(R). “This is a huge business like Big Tobacco. Absolutely.”
Meanwhile, the proposed rule to federally reschedule marijuana was officially
posted last week, kicking off a public comment period that’s expected to elicit
a major response from supporters and opponents of cannabis reform.
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’s also a looming threat of litigation.
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 “unique economic impacts” of the
rescheduling proposal given that state-level legalization has created a
“multibillion dollar industry” that stands to benefit from possible federal tax
relief under the reform.
When Biden announced the administration’s rescheduling action last week, he
described it as consistent with his belief that nobody should be jailed over
cannabis possession. As a statutory matter, that wouldn’t necessarily apply with
simple rescheduling because it’d remain federally illegal. But the White House
has not publicly commented on the economic impacts of the incremental reform.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and colleagues have
reintroduced legislation to federally legalize cannabis and impose certain
regulations. The bill’s prospects are dubious in the current divided Congress,
however.
Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. House said that the Biden
administration’s move to reschedule marijuana is a “step in the right
direction,” but it should be followed up with congressional action such as
passing the legalization bill Schumer filed.
In a recent interview with Fox News, former DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson
said it “absolutely looks like” the agency will follow through with moving
marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA.
Biden has separately issued two rounds of mass pardons for people who’ve
committed federal marijuana possession offenses. Again, a Schedule III
reclassification would not legalize cannabis or free people still incarcerated
over cannabis.
During his run for the presidency, Biden pledged to move cannabis to Schedule
II—a stricter category compared to what’s been proposed by his administration.
> California Lawmakers Approve Bill To Legalize Marijuana Cafes, Months After
> Governor’s Veto Of Earlier Measure
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Ben Adlin
Ben Adlin, a senior editor at Marijuana Moment, has been covering cannabis and
other drug policy issues professionally since 2011. He was previously a senior
news editor at Leafly, an associate editor at the Los Angeles Daily Journal and
a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. He lives in Washington State.
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