Federal scientists recommend easing restrictions on marijuana

In newly disclosed documents, federal researchers find that cannabis may have medical uses and is less likely to cause harm than drugs like heroin.

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation's most restrictive drug class, federal scientists concluded. The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas attorney who sued Health and Human Services officials over his release and posted it online Friday evening. . A H.H.S. An official confirmed the document's authenticity.

The files shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials as they consider a momentous change. The agencies involved have not commented publicly on their discussions over what amounts to a federal review of marijuana.

Since 1970, marijuana has been considered a schedule . I do drugs, a category that also includes heroin. Schedule I drugs have no medical use and a high potential for abuse, and they carry severe criminal penalties under federal trafficking laws.

Documents show that scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration make marijuana a Schedule III drug, alongside ketamine and testosterone, which are available by prescription.

The review by federal scientists found that although marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, “it does not produce serious consequences compared to Schedule I or II drugs. »

Marijuana abuse does cause physical dependence, the analysis notes, and some people develop psychological dependence. "But the likelihood of serious consequences is low," the study concludes.

The study also indicates that there is some "scientific support" for therapeutic uses of marijuana, including the treatment of anorexia, pain, nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy.

Federal officials cautioned that their analysis was not intended to suggest that they had established the safety and effectiveness of marijuana in a way that would support the FDA. approval, only these data supported certain medical uses of marijuana.

These findings apparently led the F.D.A. breaking with decades of precedent last August and advising the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana, a move first reported by Bloomberg News.

This recommendation is currently under review by the D.E.A., which should officially announce its decision within a few months. The reclassification will be subject to public comment and debate before becoming final.

Read the document 252 pages

Scientific evaluation aroused tensions between career employees at the D.E.A., a famously conservative law enforcement agency, and researchers and health officials who support the reclassification, according to two senior administration officials.

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services. , said in an interview this week that his department has remained in contact with the D.E.A. on the status of marijuana and have “made our position known to them.”

“We did everything we could for them,” he said. “We continue to offer them follow-up and technical information if they have questions.”

Marijuana industry advocates welcomed a possible delay as being very important...