As the Biden administration’s marijuana scheduling review continues, the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says his agency is uniquely positioned to “update the science” to ensure that drugs are “properly” classified under federal law.

During a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) asked HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra about his agency’s role in the “scheduling process” under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) as compared to that of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is now considering HHS’s recommendation to move cannabis to Schedule III.

congressional researchers said in a recent report that it’s “likely” DEA will go along with the Schedule III recommendation. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in July that she will “look at all the research” and “keep an open mind” as her agency considers scheduling action.

What’s also unclear is the timeline for when DEA will complete its cannabis review. For what it’s worth, however, a former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official says he’d be “shocked” if DEA doesn’t reschedule marijuana by next year’s presidential election.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 31 bipartisan House lawmakers has sent a letter the DEA administrator last month, urging her to take into account congressional and state marijuana legalization efforts as the agency carries out its scheduling review. They also criticized the limitations of simple rescheduling as they push for complete a complete removal of marijuana from the CSA.

The letter serves as a counterbalance to other recent messages DEA has received from congressional opponents of reform and former DEA and White House drug czars who argue that even moving marijuana to Schedule III would go too far.

Fourteen Republican congressional lawmakers recently urged DEA to “reject” the top federal health agency’s recommendation to reschedule marijuana and instead keep it in the most restrictive category under the CSA.

Two GOP senators, including the lead Republican sponsor of a marijuana banking bill that cleared a key committee in September, have also recently filed legislation to prevent federal agencies from rescheduling cannabis without tacit approval from Congress.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) separately submitted an amendment for a spending bill that would prevent the Justice Department from using federal funds to reschedule or deschedule marijuana.

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/top-federal-health-official-touts-science-based-drug-scheduling-process-amid-marijuana-review/