You have probably heard that the Biden Administration is advocating for the DEA to reschedule Cannabis (Marijuana) from a schedule I drug, a drug with no medical benefits to schedule III, a drug with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence and has a currently accepted medical use.
In support of this change, a review found that 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.”
HHS determined 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.”
50 years of prohibition began with a politically expedient lie by the 1970 Nixon campaign.
The statement below made in the 1990’s is from John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon.
“You want to know what this [war on drugs] was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.
Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Impacts on Research
Since then, research on medical cannabis has been stymied by FDA and DEA regulations regarding the study of Schedule I controlled substances. Although rescheduling to L III could lift that barrier, other challenges would remain.
It’s not clear if Schedule III drugs can be more easily researched as currently clinical trials have to go through the one legal federal supplier of cannabis. The National Center for the Development of Natural Products at the University of Mississippi is the only approved supplier of marijuana for research purposes in the United States, and that production has been exclusively for the National Institute on Drug Abuse In other words, researchers would not be lawfully obtaining the cannabis from a dispensary which most medical patients obtain their medical cannabis.
And it is well documented that the quality of the marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi, has lower levels of THC and CBD compared to commercial cannabis products and often contains mold.
Evidence of Medical Cannabis Benefits - Harvard Health Peter Grinspoon. MD.
While marijuana isn't strong enough for severe pain (for example, post-surgical pain or a broken bone), it is quite effective for the chronic pain that plagues millions of Americans, especially as they age. Part of its allure is that it is clearly safer than opiates (it is impossible to overdose on and far less addictive) and it can take the place of NSAIDs such as Advil or Aleve, if people can't take them due to problems with their kidneys or ulcers or GERD.
In particular, marijuana appears to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis, and nerve pain in general. This is an area where few other options exist, and those that do, such as Neurontin, Lyrica, or opiates are highly sedating. Patients claim that marijuana allows them to resume their previous activities without feeling completely out of it and disengaged.
Along these lines, marijuana is said to be a fantastic muscle relaxant, and people swear by its ability to lessen tremors in Parkinson's disease. I have also heard of its use quite successfully for fibromyalgia, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and most other conditions where the final common pathway is chronic pain.
So What may change with rescheduling to L III?
For medical marijuana, changing the drug to a Schedule III means that it can legally be prescribed, but only in states that have legalized medical cannabis. So, we are good on the west coast.
So, if you're a patient in a state with a medical marijuana law and your physician gives you a prescription for medical marijuana and you possess it, you will no longer be guilty of a federal crime.
But what about patients living in states that have not legalized medical cannabis?
There is going to be confusion because although you wouldn't be committing a federal crime, you could be violating state law. This is a problem for medical patients as in 99% of cases the state is the entity that goes after individuals who process small quantities of cannabis. And the manufacture, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana would remain illegal under federal law.
There may be benefits for dispensary's as rescheduling would change the tax status of the estimated 12,000-15,000 state-licensed cannabis dispensaries in the United States, allowing access to certain tax deductions that are unavailable to sales involving Schedule I controlled substances.
Also, patients who receive care through the Veterans Administration (VA) may benefit as the VA may rescind the policy that blocked clinicians from prescribing medical marijuana.
So there are many unknowns at this time. Stay tuned for updates.
Reference Links
DEA Rescheduling Cannabis to LIII
/Cannabidiol (CBD): Promising Targets for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
DEA Schedule
Medical Cannabis and Chronic Pain
Nixon's Drug War Vera Drug War Confessional
The DEA Plans to Reschedule Marijuana: What Happens Next?
Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Compounds: Quality Considerations for Clinical Research Guidance for Industry
Quality of Federal Produced Medical Cannabis
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