Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine asked Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram to reclassify marijuana as a lower-risk drug, a move that would have major implications for the legal status of the popular drug nationwide.
A DEA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to Milgram recommending that cannabis, which is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, be downgraded to a Schedule III substance based on a recent Food and Drug Administration review of the substance.
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“We can confirm DEA received [the letter], pursuant to President Biden’s request for a review,” the DEA spokesperson said. “As part of this process, HHS conducted a scientific and medical evaluation for consideration by DEA. DEA has the final authority to schedule or reschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act. DEA will now initiate its review.”
In October 2022, President Joe Biden issued a blanket federal pardon to all those with simple possession of marijuana charges at the federal level and encouraged state governors to do the same.
In the same executive order, Biden asked Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to initiate a review process of the scheduling classification of cannabis to progress federal drug policy.
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Schedule I drugs include highly addictive substances that have no legal medical purpose, such as heroin. Schedule III drugs have significantly less abuse potential than Schedule I or II substances but “may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence,” according to DEA scheduling protocols.
Neither HHS nor the Department of Justice has responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
