Win McNamee
Amid an ongoing review by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule marijuana from a high-risk to a low-risk category, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Robert Califf, said Thursday that there's "no reason" for the DEA to delay its decision.
In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wrote a letter to the DEA recommending cannabis be reclassified from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) based on the FDA's findings.
In January, the DEA confirmed the ongoing review. A favorable decision will see marijuana moving to Schedule III, a low-risk category for medications like Tylenol and ketamine, from its current category in Schedule I, which includes dangerous drugs like heroin and LSD.
"There's no reason for DEA to delay. They have to take into account all the regulations that are in play," FDA commissioner Califf said during a hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Thursday.
Meanwhile, rescheduling opponent Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) argued that the FDA's assessment of cannabis that led to the HHS recommendation was not based on "scientific facts or realities of how marijuana has been abused and used in our country today."
"Let me remind you that a Schedule III does not put marijuana on the market in the United States," Califf said in response, according to industry publication Marijuana Moment. "With all due respect, I think [cannabis] is differentiable from heroin and, I think, cigarettes."