TUESDAY, Jan. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Citing research that revealed marijuana has less potential for abuse than other drugs with the same restrictions, scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration say it should be reclassified as a less dangerous drug.
Right now, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, a high-risk category that includes heroin and LSD. The move to reconsider the dangers of marijuana first began in 2022, when President Joe Biden asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the attorney general to begin reviewing how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. As part of that process, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Rachel Levine, M.D., wrote a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration in August supporting the reclassification of marijuana to a Schedule III drug, a list that includes ketamine, testosterone, and Tylenol with codeine.
The FDA documents, which were posted online Friday, state that the agency recommends rescheduling marijuana because it meets three criteria: a lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I and II substances; an accepted medical use; and a low or moderate risk for physical dependence in people who abuse it. The National Institute on Drug Abuse backed the recommendation, the documents state.
Although marijuana is widely used for recreational purposes, it does not seem to trigger the serious outcomes that drugs such as heroin, oxycodone, and cocaine do, the researchers stressed. The data also provide “some credible level of scientific support for some of the therapeutic uses for which marijuana is being used in clinical practice in the United States,” namely anorexia, pain, and nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, the researchers added.
Finally, the scientists noted that marijuana withdrawal has only been reported in heavy, chronic users. And “the marijuana withdrawal syndrome appears to be relatively mild compared to the withdrawal syndrome associated with alcohol, which can include more serious symptoms such as agitation, paranoia, seizures, and even death,” they added.
If the agency follows the recommendations of its researchers, rescheduling marijuana could allow for more research, give cannabis businesses the ability to bank more freely, and have such firms no longer subject to a 40-year-old tax code that does not allow credits and deductions from income generated by sales of Schedule I and II substances, CNN reported.
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