HHS Recommends DEA Reclassify Marijuana to Schedule III

A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official recently sent a letter to Anne Milgram, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator, recommending that DEA reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.  Under the Controlled Substances Act, Schedule I covers drugs with high potential for abuse and no accepted therapeutic use (eg, heroin), and Schedule III covers drugs with accepted therapeutic use and can be obtained with a prescription (eg, anabolic steroids). [See 21 U.S.C. § 812.]  The HHS recommendation was based on its review of “how marijuana is scheduled under federal law,” requested by President Joseph Biden on October 6, 2022.  Researchers are welcoming the possible reclassification.  The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act [Pub. L. No. 117-215 (December 2, 2022)] streamlined access to marijuana for medical research, but a researcher must apply for a DEA license for each new study, and the DEA only allows a few universities and companies to produce marijuana for research. [See 21 C.F.R. pt. 1301.]  Reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III will further streamline the research process.  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states, 3 territories, and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of cannabis products.  Neuroscientist Staci Gruber states “we’re still a long way from having enough empirically sound data,” and “we have a responsibility to try to understand the ways in which [people] may use it more responsibly.”