A Republican congressman, who has opposed marijuana reform for years, is now telling the Drug Enforcement Administration that the Food and Drug Administration came to a “misguided decision” in recommending rescheduling of cannabis. He’s challenging the scientific standards set by the health agency and urging DEA to disregard them when it comes to making a final determination.
Andy Harris (R) (MD) wrote to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in a Wednesday letter. He said that the agency must “abide by the international treaty obligations of our nation” which, he claims, prohibits the U.S. moving cannabis into Schedule III of Controlled Substances Act.
Harris added that reclassification of marijuana to a schedule other than Schedule I or II would be a violation of Single Convention.
The DEA previously rejected rescheduling requests on the basis these decades-old treaties. However, as a group of 12 senators pointed out this week in a separate letter to Milgram, the United Nations has revised its global cannabis scheduling policy, allowing for other member states, such as Canada, to enact full legalization of cannabis without penalty.
In a letter, the congressman stated that “as well as considering international treaty obligation, I urge you consider the fact that HHS’s justification for its recommendation to reschedule cannabis was flawed in many ways.”
He claimed that “FDA overlooked several important factors” when evaluating marijuana’s potential abuse and harm to the public. The agency, he argued, “didn’t sufficiently examine the effects of daily marijuana usage, a key indication of addiction,” as well as “failed [to] consider the public-health damage caused by fatal traffic accidents due to people driving under the influence.”
He said that the FDA failed to compare the potential abuse of marijuana to other Schedule I drugs. Instead, it chose to select drugs that appeared more harmful.
Harris stated in the letter that the FDA “mischaracterized” the data regarding marijuana’s harmful effects. This was first reported on Fox News Radio. The FDA’s lack of rigor led to a faulty conclusion.
Harris, in addition to laying out his two-part argument against incremental rescheduling – which would neither legalize marijuana nor federally sanction state regulated cannabis markets – demanded that DEA respond to a number of related questions before February 16.
He asked Milgram for an explanation of the DEA’s legal interpretation of the international treaty obligations in relation to marijuana. He also wanted to know how the agency approaches its scheduling review in terms of its procedural approach, whether certain cannabis studies are appropriate to be considered in the assessment, and how they weigh issues like marijuana use among pregnant women and impaired driving.
It’s not surprising that the congressman has a strong opposition to marijuana reform. He’s been a staunch opponent of marijuana legislation throughout his career. He’s, for example, sponsored and defended an appropriations riders that has blocked Washington, D.C. implementing a system regulated cannabis sales, even though voters approved a legalization measure at the local ballot box in 2014.
Harris’ letter to DEA came at the same time as two other prohibitionist legislators, Rep. Pete Sessions and Sen. Pete Ricketts introduced a simultaneous resolution that raised concerns about high-potency THC products. The resolution also called on federal agencies research potential harms.
The letter is just the latest example in which lawmakers from both sides of cannabis debate try to influence DEA, amid anticipation of a possible imminent decision on scheduling.
In a separate, Monday letter to Milgram–sent by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D) and John Fetterman(D) along with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D) and other advocates of marijuana reform urged DEA go beyond rescheduling and fully remove cannabis from the CSA.
They said that doing so would be a “rare chance to shape the cannabis industry from the bottom up, designing an federal regulatory system that is untainted with the corporate capture which has affected alcohol and tobacco regulations and advancing federal reforms for cannabis that acknowledge and repair harms caused by cannabis criminalization.”
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HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated last month that had “communicated” to DEA its “position” regarding marijuana rescheduling and continued to provide additional information in order to help with the final decision.
The DEA has steadfastly insisted that it is the “final authority” on this matter, and it can make whatever scheduling decisions it deems appropriate.
In a letter sent to legislators last month, the DEA said that it had the final say on whether to schedule, reschedule or deschedule a substance under the Controlled Substances Act. This decision was made after considering all relevant statutory criteria, regulatory criteria, and HHS’s scientific and medical evaluation. “DEA is currently conducting its review.”
The statement was made in response to a letter sent by 31 bipartisan legislators, led Earl Blumenauer (DOR), who had urged the agency to take into account the “merits of legalization” as it conducted its review .
Before HHS released a trove documents regarding its cannabis recommendation, a group of Democratic state attorneys general urged DEA to proceed with federal marijuana rescheduling. They called the policy change a ‘public safety imperative.
In a second letter, sent in December, 29 former U.S. Attorneys urged the Biden administration not to include cannabis on Schedule I.
In the same month, six U.S. governors–Colorado. Illinois, New York. New Jersey, Maryland, and Louisiana-sent a message to Biden , urging the administration to reschedule cannabis by the end last year.
Six former DEA directors and five former White House Drug Czars have sent a letter to the Attorney General and current DEA Administrator expressing their opposition to the recommendation of the federal health agency to reschedule cannabis . The letter also included a questionable statement about the relationship between criminal penalties and drug schedules, which could have exaggerated the impact of incremental reform.
The DEA and Office of National Drug Control Policy directors under both major parties’ presidents are among the signatories.
In October, advocates and lawmakers who support marijuana reform marked the anniversary of Biden’s mass marijuana pardons and scheduling directives by calling him to do more – including by extending the scope of relief his pardon provided and by explicitly supporting federal legalization.
Two GOP Senators, including the Republican lead sponsor of an marijuana banking bill which was approved by a key committee back in September also filed legislation at the end of last year to prohibit federal agencies from rescheduling Cannabis without tacit consent from Congress.
A coalition of Republican lawmakers separately urged DEA, meanwhile to “reject”, the top federal agency’s recommendation to reschedule cannabis , and instead keep it the most restrictive category in the CSA.
According to a recent survey, about one third of marijuana users say they would return to the illegal market in case cannabis was rescheduled and made available only as a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescription drug.
A recent survey revealed that Joe Biden could gain significant political benefits if marijuana were rescheduled as per his administrative directive. Biden does not directly control the outcome.
He has regularly praised his 2022 scheduling order, as well a a mass pardon that he granted to people who had committed federal marijuana possession crimes. Last month , he issued a new and expanded pardon declaration. The Justice Department has begun issuing certificates for those who applied in the second round.
Below, you can read Harris’ letter addressed to the DEA Administrator on marijuana scheduling concerns:
GOP lawmakers team up with marijuana prohibitionists on a resolution calling for research into high potency THC products
The post FDA Rescheduled Marijuana After Reaching a ‘Flawed and Misguided Conclusion, GOP Congressman Tells DEA Administrator first appeared on Marijuana moment.
