The Washington Post (5/16, Ovalle , Nirappil ) reports, “President Biden on Thursday publicly endorsed the Justice Department’s recommendation to loosen restrictions on marijuana, a long-expected measure that marks a historic shift in the nation’s drug policy.” Now, the Justice Department “will publish an official notice, opening a two-month period for the public to comment on the proposed change. The rule reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III controlled substance would not go into effect until afterward.”
The AP (5/16, Whitehurst ) reports the “proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs.” The proposal “comes after a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department, which launched a review of the drug’s status at the urging of President Joe Biden in 2022.”
Reuters (5/16, Lynch) reports that in its analysis, the FDA “said it found ‘some credible scientific support for the use of marijuana in the treatment of chronic pain, anorexia related to a medical condition, and nausea and vomiting.” No safety concerns were raised “‘in the FDA’s review that would indicate that medical use of marijuana poses unacceptably high safety risks,’ the proposal says.”
NBC News (5/16, Tsirkin , Alba) reports that in Congress, Democrats “are pursuing a partisan effort to remove cannabis entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, empowering states to create their own cannabis laws and prioritize restorative and economic justice for those affected by the ‘war on drugs.’”
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