Marijuana is less harmful and less prone to abuse than first thought and should be reclassified to reflect that, the Department of Health and Human Services now says.
The FDA and HHS have already made their recommendations to reschedule. Now the DEA gets to weigh in, then there’s a period for public comment. After that, IIRC, the FDA makes a final decision. The current recommendation is to Schedule III from Schedule I.
but that’s just for rescheduling on a federal level.
edit: correction-- it’s the DEA who makes the ultimate decision.
agreed. Schedule IV or descheduling altogether would be most fitting. The fact that it’s a legitimate medication for many conditions and is still the subject of a great deal of research muddies the waters a bit, however.
Can the DEA even reclassify drugs? All the DEA could do, in theory, is decriminalise and not prosecute - which they’re kind of doing already.
It’s up to Congress to write laws. Maybe the FDA, in this case.
The FDA and HHS have already made their recommendations to reschedule. Now the DEA gets to weigh in, then there’s a period for public comment.
After that, IIRC, the FDA makes a final decision. The current recommendation is to Schedule III from Schedule I.but that’s just for rescheduling on a federal level.
edit: correction-- it’s the DEA who makes the ultimate decision.
Thanks, that’s a good overview.
Schedule III is still too harsh, imo, though.
agreed. Schedule IV or descheduling altogether would be most fitting. The fact that it’s a legitimate medication for many conditions and is still the subject of a great deal of research muddies the waters a bit, however.