{"id":18433,"date":"2024-12-08T17:45:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T16:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=18433"},"modified":"2025-05-10T17:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:52:07","slug":"proposal-by-hhs-and-attorney-general-to-reschedule-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2024\/12\/proposal-by-hhs-and-attorney-general-to-reschedule-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposal by HHS and Attorney General to Reschedule Marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emphatic Rejection by DrugWatch International<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

COMMENT BY JOHN J. COLEMAN Ph.D, PRESIDENT, DRUGWATCH INTERNATIONAL – 01 December 2024\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

From:<\/strong> drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com<\/a><\/p>\n

The proposal from the Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III \u2013 responding to President Biden\u2019s request to take a second look at marijuana scheduling – is probably DOA at this point. The hearing at DEA tomorrow is closed except to media and designated participants (apparently, though, it will be online for the public). They may go through some of the motions because that\u2019s what they are supposed to do, but the usual time of several months to go from hearing to Final Order or Final Rule will place the resolution of this matter well into the next administration. When there\u2019s a change of parties, as in this case, the new administration is not eager to adopt or implement the changes or proposals of the old one.<\/p>\n

The current move to reschedule marijuana amount to a political hoax because Congress is not about to add the number of federal employees that would be needed to enforce a Schedule III status for marijuana. Every “dispensary” in all the states (est. 38 of 50, plus D,C.) would immediately or within a time set by a Final Rule must register with DEA, pay a registration fee, meet certain requirements, before being able to fill and dispense valid prescriptions for marijuana. The Controlled Substances Act imposes strict controls on imports and exports of controlled substances, as well as its packaging, labeling, distribution, and storage.<\/p>\n

The federal government that in 1993 abdicated its responsibility for controlling marijuana (per the infamous Cole Memorandum<\/em>) has neither the resources nor the desire to enforce new marijuana provisions of the CSA because it no longer enforces even a modicum of the old ones. This is nothing but a cruel joke perpetrated by insincere leaders contemptuous of those who disagree with them. The DEA administrator refused to sign the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking leaving the Attorney General to regain his authority and issue the NPRM in the form of an Attorney General\u2019s Order. That, alone, disqualifies this rescheduling exercise, assuming, that is, that this lunacy ever reaches a judicial review.<\/p>\n

As for tomorrow\u2019s meeting at DEA\u2019s administrative law court, I think it will be perfunctory and simply set the agenda for the following two or three months when there may be a hearing. I say \u201cmay\u201d because the incoming AG and DEA administrator could very well put the kibosh on this nutty move by the Biden administration. As our late friend and colleague Otto Moulton used to say, \u201cread what the other side is saying!\u201d According to Cannabis.net, a pro-marijuana website, the headline of their alarming article says it all: \u201cTrump’s Not So Cannabis Friendly Cabinet Picks – His VP, AG, Head of the CDC and FDA Nominees all Hate Legal Weed: The cannabis scorecard for Trump’s new cabinet is not shaping up well for legalization fans!\u201d<\/p>\n

That pretty much says it all.<\/p>\n

John Coleman<\/p>\n

************************<\/p>\n

Submission by Maggie Petito to DrugWatch International –\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>mlp3@starpower.net<\/a>
\nSent:<\/strong> Sunday, December 1, 2024 7:21 AM
\nTo:<\/strong> drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com<\/a>
\nSubject:<\/strong> Chronister12-1-24<\/p>\n

From The Washington Post:<\/strong> \u201c Chronister would enter an agency that has been roiled by the\u00a0convictions\u00a0of several former agents in corruption cases and\u00a0scrutiny\u00a0of Milgram\u2019s hiring practices.<\/em><\/p>\n

The incoming DEA administrator will also helm the agency as it handles a Biden Justice Department proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana \u2014 a\u00a0measure supported\u00a0by Trump despite objections from other GOP leaders\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The Justice Department has proposed to reclassify marijuana from a tier reserved for substances such as heroin and LSD. The move to reclassify marijuana would not legalize the drug but would move it to Schedule III, a category that includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone. The proposal met pushback internally at the DEA, which questioned whether reclassification violated international treaty obligations regarding drug control and if a federal health agency used the wrong legal standard in making its determination, according to a Justice Department legal\u00a0opinion\u00a0that sided with the Department of Health and Human Services. When officials submitted the proposed rule to reclassify marijuana in April, the paperwork was signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, not Milgram.<\/em><\/p>\n

The marijuana proposal will be considered in DEA administrative court; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday, 2nd December 2024.\u00a0 The proposal, if it goes through, would not be finalized until after Trump becomes president.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

************************<\/p>\n

Washington Post\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0David Ovalle\u00a0and\u00a0Anumita Kaur\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 November 30, 2024 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister picked to lead DEA under Trump – The Washington Post<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

President-elect\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0on Saturday tapped Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, replacing Anne Milgram.<\/em><\/p>\n

The incoming DEA administrator will also helm the agency as it handles a Biden Justice Department proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana \u2014 a\u00a0measure supported\u00a0by Trump despite objections from other GOP leaders.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Justice Department has proposed to reclassify marijuana from a tier reserved for substances such as heroin and LSD. The move to reclassify marijuana would not legalize the drug but would move it to Schedule III, a category that includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.<\/em><\/p>\n

The proposal met pushback internally at the DEA, which questioned whether reclassification violated international treaty obligations regarding drug control and if a federal health agency used the wrong legal standard in making its determination, according to a Justice Department legal\u00a0opinion\u00a0that sided with the Department of Health and Human Services. When officials submitted the proposed rule to reclassify marijuana in April, the paperwork was signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, not Milgram.<\/em><\/p>\n

The marijuana proposal will be considered in DEA administrative court; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. The proposal, if it goes through, would not be finalized until after Trump becomes president.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong><\/span> COMMENT BY JOHN J. COLEMAN Ph.D, PRESIDENT, DRUGWATCH INTERNATIONAL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emphatic Rejection by DrugWatch International COMMENT BY JOHN J. COLEMAN Ph.D, PRESIDENT, DRUGWATCH INTERNATIONAL – 01 December 2024\u00a0 From: drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com The proposal from the Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III \u2013 responding to President Biden\u2019s request to take a second look at marijuana scheduling – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,9,68,60,104,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-drug-specifics","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-marijuana-and-medicine","category-political-sector","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}