(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-17) and Senator James Lankford (OK) released a bicameral public comment letter signed by twenty-five members of Congress strongly opposing the recent decision to reschedule marijuana. As the letter notes, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) rescheduling recommendation was based in politics, not science. The standard for Schedule III drugs includes accepted medical use, but crude marijuana has never passed safety and efficacy protocols.
With this recommendation, the Administration has unilaterally reversed decades of precedent in the face of volumes of data confirming marijuana’s harms. The letter notes the increasing danger of high-potency marijuana, which is creating a high risk for youth overdoses, schizophrenia, psychosis, and many more public health threats. It is well-established that THC is addictive at rates over 30% and can have long-term, permanent consequences for brain development including dramatically lower IQ, depression, suicidality, motor impairment, among other consequences.
Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and former three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today about the letter:
“We are grateful for Rep. Sessions and Senator Lankford’s leadership to speak out about the public health threats of rescheduling marijuana. The recent HHS decision flies in the face of scientific evidence and is a gift to Big Marijuana. Schedule III would enable this industry’s shameless pursuit of their addiction for profit model. Scientific evidence shows that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, which is only growing in the face of high-potency THC drug products, marketed by a predatory industry. Rescheduling marijuana during an election year makes clear that the nation’s health and safety is being undermined to try to gain a political advantage with the principal targets of the pot industry, namely young people. The points made by Rep. Sessions and Senator Lankford must be seriously considered by the DEA and DOJ before any decision on rescheduling is finalized.”