Senior HHS official calls to move marijuana to lower-risk drug category
Senior HHS official calls to move marijuana to lower-risk drug category
A senior Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing a letter.
A senior Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing a letter.
The US department of Health and Human Services has completed the review called for by President Biden last year, and has sent a letter to the DEA officially recommending that cannabis be moved from the "schedule 1" classification (with dangerous and addictive drugs like heroin) to the much less strict "schedule 3".
While I feel cannabis should be descheduled and treated like alcohol (which I think is more dangerous and prone to abuse), this is a very positive step in the right direction.
Good to see some slow progress being made. Absolutely pathetic and abhorrent that it has taken so long though. Hopefully DEA acts on this quickly. That said, schedule three also seems far too harsh. Anyone with any familiarity with cannabis, either as a user or knowing those who use it, can tell you that it does not meet the risk guidelines of schedule 3 (Abusing the drug can cause severe mental addiction, or moderate physical addiction). For the record, it's companions on schedule 3 would include anabolic steroids and ketamine.
Don't worry, Biden said he'll "look into" decriminalization during the primary, I'm sure it'll happen any day now...
I mean, Biden requested that HHS conduct this review so that they can reschedule cannabis under the existing laws, which is about the best that the executive branch can do on its own. This is part of what decriminalization looks like when only one branch of the federal government is willing to pursue that goal.
If he tried to skip these reviews, the court would likely overturn his executive orders or his agencies' changes in policy (though the current Supreme Court would likely overturn these things regardless). And he obviously can't sign a law that Congress has not passed, so we're left with slow-moving bureaucracy.
I'm sure it'll happen just after he gets re-elected but only if Dems get both houses of Congress.
At least that's what they say every election.
As a heavy smoker, the description or schedule 3 as you wrote it seems to fit.
Marijuana does cause minor physical withdrawal, as evident by the plethora of physical effects that occur when a heavy smoker stops. I would say the mental side of it is more prominent though and is what many struggle with when trying to quit smoking