Although the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has mostly faulted its associates over at the Food and Drug Administration for its actions of being unwilling to downgrade the Schedule I classification of marijuana, new information has discovered that the FDA is somewhat puzzled by the federal rescheduling process and thinks the policy should be correctly amended.
Not long ago, the people at ATTN: secured documents through the Freedom of Information Act which points out the FDA’s confusion over the strict regulations outlined by the DEA for rescheduling substances under the Controlled Substances Act.
A letter penned by the health agency’s Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, which accompanied the FDA’s latest marijuana rescheduling recommendation, suggests the Department of Justice should consider reevaluating “The legal and regulatory framework” it uses to determine whether marijuana should still be considered one of the most dangerous drugs in the world.
” points out that another potential area for review is the legal and regulatory framework applied to the assessment of abuse liability for substances in Schedule 1 and the assessment of currently accepted medical use for drugs that have not been approved by FDA,” the letter reads.
“While potentially daunting, re-evaluation of the legal and regulatory framework by DOJ/DEA and could identify ways to encourage appropriate scientific research into the potential therapeutic benefits of marijuana and its constituents,” it continues.
While the FDA did recommend that the DEA should keep marijuana bound by the restrictions of a Schedule I classification, the letter indicates that the agency has identified some flaws in the DEA’s criteria for rescheduling drugs that could use an overhaul before additional petitions are submitted.
Basically, Ostroff seems to believe that marijuana should not be lumped into the same category as substances like heroin, but due to the rescheduling process designed by Uncle Sam’s leading dope henchman, the FDA has been forced to perpetuate the myth of cannabis being a dangerous/addictive drug.
In August, the DEA revealed that it would not remove marijuana from the confines of its Schedule I listing.
In an interview with NPR, acting DEA administrator Chuck Rosenberg said the “Decision is based on whether marijuana, as determined by the FDA, is safe and effective medicine and it’s not.” However, he failed to mention that the FDA was not completely convinced that maintaining a Schedule I classification for marijuana was the best move but the eight factors the DEA currently allows the agency to consider when making this decision offered no other option.
Cannabis reform advocates say they would like to see the federal government devise a new policy for reviewing marijuana.
“I think this letter shows that they know that framework is inflexible and that it is preventing further scientific research,” Mike Liszewski, the director of government affairs at Americans for Safe Access said.
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