Biden Administration Discloses Unredacted Marijuana Rescheduling Recommendation, Igniting Industry Anticipation

In a late Friday development, the Biden administration has publicly disclosed the unredacted exchange between federal authorities, recommending the rescheduling of marijuana. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) communicated to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that, after thorough assessment of preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological data, it recommends the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

According to the recommendation, Schedule III classification implies a potential for abuse less than drugs in Schedules I and II, an accepted medical use in the United States, and moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has endorsed this recommendation.

The move has sparked anticipation within the U.S. cannabis industry, which awaits potential federal reform, including tax relief if the DEA acts on the HHS rescheduling suggestion and the DEA's proposed change becomes law. However, the exact justifications behind HHS's recommendation have remained undisclosed until now.

The documents outlining the HHS recommendation were released on Friday, including the widely reported August 29 letter from HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. These documents, totaling 252 pages of agency communications, were made public by attorney Matt Zorn, who obtained them after filing a federal lawsuit urging government agencies to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.

Prior to Zorn's release of the unredacted documents, federal officials had not responded to various efforts, including FOIA requests filed by MJBizDaily with the DEA and HHS.

The released information reveals that public health officials compared marijuana to other scheduled drugs and alcohol. The conclusion aligns with the core claim of marijuana legalization advocates – that cannabis is less harmful than other more readily available drugs.

The recommendation highlighted, “The risks to public health posed by marijuana are lower compared to other drugs of abuse (e.g., heroin, oxycodone, cocaine), based on an evaluation of various epidemiological databases for emergency department visits, hospitalizations, unintentional exposures, and most importantly, for overdose deaths.”

The data regarding marijuana's medical value was sourced from U.S. states with legal cannabis programs and provided to the Food and Drug Administration.

Despite this development, the timeline for the DEA's response to the HHS recommendation remains uncertain. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram recently informed lawmakers that the review is ongoing. Legal and political observers speculate that the DEA might lack the legal authority to oppose health regulators on matters of medicine and science.

This story was first published by MJBizDaily.