Republican lawmakers have called on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to reschedule cannabis in the US.
A group of 14 republicans have penned a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, urging the administration to reject the landmark recommendations from DHHS to move cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III.
Sen. James Lankford and Rep. Pete Sessions led the eight GOP senators and six house members in calling for ‘any effort to reschedule marijuana’ to be ‘based on proven facts and science—not popular opinion, changes in state laws, or the preferred policy of an administration’.
The recommendation to remove marijuana from the DEA’s list of dangerous Schedule I drugs is not based on science—it’s based on an irresponsible pro-pot agenda. pic.twitter.com/pNdBqfCnRN
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) September 12, 2023
The group went on to claim that 30% of marijuana users were severely addicted to the drug, and that cannabis has a ‘high potential for abuse’ and ‘does not have a currently accepted medical use’, citing National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) data on rates of cannabis use disorder.
For obvious reasons, the letter did not mention that NIDA has reportedly signed off on the DHHS recommendation, or that the DHHS has repeatedly said its review into cannabis was based in science.
Following the DHHS recommendation, the DEA will now conduct a scientific review into cannabis.
