DEA plans to reclassify marijuana as a low-risk drug

(CNN) — Joe Biden’s government could reclassify marijuana as a low-risk substance as soon as this Tuesday, a person with knowledge of government planning told CNN. This is a landmark initiative that recognizes the therapeutic benefits of a long-criminalized drug and has broad implications for cannabis-related research and the industry in general.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to recommend that marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III controlled substance, a classification shared with codeine by prescription drugs such as ketamine and Tylenol.

“The (Justice Department) is still working on this rule. We have no further comment at this time,” a government official said Tuesday.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The historic move comes as Biden is running for re-election and trying to boost his support among young voters.

The long-awaited recommendation will be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget and undergo a public comment period. The rescheduling would also potentially be subject to congressional approval.

For more than 50 years, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I substance – along with drugs like heroin and ecstasy, which are considered to have no accepted medical use and have a high potential for abuse – and have been subject to restrictions.

The recommendation comes after a thorough review by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the direction of President Joe Biden, who sent a letter to the 2022 Justice supporting reclassification to List III. To the department.

Last fall, members of the FDA’s Controlled Substances staff wrote in documents that the agency recommended reclassifying marijuana because it met three criteria: less potential for abuse than other Schedule I and II substances; Currently accepted medical uses in treatment in the US; And there is a low or moderate risk of physical dependence in people who abuse it. The National Institute on Drug Abuse agrees with this recommendation.

Although the researchers said marijuana has a “high prevalence of non-medical use” in the US, it does not cause serious consequences compared to drugs such as heroin, oxycodone and cocaine. “This is particularly notable given the availability” of products containing very high levels of delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active compound in cannabis.

Twenty-four states, two territories and Washington have legalized recreational cannabis for adults, and 38 states allow medical use of cannabis products, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since the first sales of adult-use cannabis in Colorado in 2014, hemp has become the center of a multi-billion dollar industry that has attracted the attention of multinational companies in sectors such as alcohol, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and tobacco.

Removing marijuana from Schedule I could open more avenues for research, relax some of the most harshly punitive criminal consequences, allow cannabis businesses to bank more freely and openly, and allow companies to Can be removed from being subject to a 40 year old tax code. Do not allow credits and deductions from income generated from the sale of Schedule I and II substances.

However, reclassifying marijuana would not resolve the federal-state conflict, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted in a January 16 report. The manufacturing, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana will remain illegal under federal law and will likely be subject to law enforcement and prosecution regardless of state legality, CRS wrote.

States with medical marijuana programs currently have some federal protections through the credit law that limit the Justice Department from interfering with those programs. The CRS said that List III status would not affect that section.

In October 2022, Biden asked Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to begin the administrative process of reviewing the classification of marijuana in federal law.

The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, known as the Farm Bill, defined and regulated hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol under the Controlled Substances Act and removed it from the definition of marijuana and from regulatory control. The FDA’s scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana did not take into account products containing plant-derived CBD.

CNN’s Meg Tirrell and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report