Senators hail Health Department suggestion to ease restrictions on marijuana

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a suggestion to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana coverage, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a primary step towards easing federal restrictions on the drug.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated Wednesday on X, the platform previously referred to as Twitter, that the company has responded to President Joe Biden’s request “to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA.”

“We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated in an announcement that HHS had really useful that marijuana be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III managed substance.

“HHS has done the right thing,” Schumer, D-N.Y., stated. “DEA should now follow through on this important step to greatly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.”

Rescheduling the drug would scale back or probably get rid of legal penalties for possession. Marijuana is at the moment labeled as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD.

According to the DEA, Schedule I medicine “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.”

Schedule III medicine “have a potential for abuse less than substances in Schedules I or II and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.” They at the moment embody ketamine and a few anabolic steroids.

Biden requested the assessment in October 2022 as he pardoned hundreds of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana underneath federal regulation

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued an announcement calling for marijuana to be fully descheduled. “However, the recommendation of HHS to reschedule cannabis as a Schedule III drug is not inconsequential,” he added. “If HHS’s recommendation is ultimately implemented, it will be a historic step for a nation whose cannabis policies have been out of touch with reality.”

Bloomberg News first reported on the HHS suggestion.