Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) today sent a letter to Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram asking her to act expeditiously on a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to reschedule marijuana to Schedule 3 under the Controlled Substances Act.
The letter follows a DEA oversight hearing in July in which Congressman Cohen questioned Administrator Milgram on this topic. At the time, Administrator Milgram said DEA could only act after it received a recommendation from HHS. The following month HHS sent a letter to the DEA officially recommending marijuana be moved to Schedule III, which would effectively legalize it for prescription use nationwide.
“I urge you, in the strongest possible way, to follow through on HHS’s recommendation”, says Representative Cohen in his letter. “It is critical that the DEA’s review is expeditious and that your agency quickly initiate the rulemaking process.”
Cohen continues by saying that marijuana “never belonged on Schedule I. Its inclusion resulted in harsh and disproportionate prison sentences, particularly for communities of color. Nearly half the states have already legalized marijuana for recreational use by ballot measure. You have a historic opportunity to make meaningful progress as Congress works on legislation to deschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act and address some of the inequities caused by this misguided and discriminatory policy.”
You can read the entire letter by clicking here.
Last month a coalition of six governors sent a letter to President Biden urging his administration to reschedule marijuana by the end of the year. Also last month, a coalition representing thousands of military veterans sent a letter to President Biden asking that his administration reschedule marijuana in a “timely” manner.
