The U.S. government has released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials have recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place the substance in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
The 252 pages of documents explain that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”
Federal health officials said they conducted an analysis that found more than 30,000 healthcare professionals “across 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.”
Just a day after a government lawyer said the documents would be released “in their entirety,” officials transmitted them to attorney Matt Zorn, who had sued the government over a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain them.
Zorn posted an image to his On Drugs blog on Friday of a letter to DEA Director Anne Milgram in which the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health writes that “Marijuana meets the findings for control in Schedule III set forth in 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(3).”
via Matt Zorn, On Drugs blog
Zorn’s blog post did not immediately share the contents of the newly revealed letter and supporting information, though he later published the full tranche of documents online.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Read the full HHS marijuana documents below:
12 State Attorneys General Tell DEA To Reschedule Marijuana As ‘Public Safety Imperative’
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Read the full article here
