Report Underscores SAM’s Position That Prevention Must Remain Top Priority
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a powerful new report published today in JAMA Psychiatry, two of the nation’s foremost experts in public health and law dismantle the federal government’s rationale for rescheduling marijuana. Authored by Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Bertha Madras and Heritage Foundation legal scholar Paul Larkin, the report makes the compelling case that the Biden Administration’s recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act is scientifically unsound, legally questionable, and politically motivated.
Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, issued a statement in response to the report:
“Today’s newly published JAMA Psychiatry report, ‘Rescheduling Cannabis—Medicine or Politics?‘ by Dr. Bertha Madras and Paul Larkin, should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers and the public.
“It lays bare the deeply flawed reasoning behind the federal government’s recommendation to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III and is a critical resource in the fight to protect public health, especially for youth.
“What we find in this report is what we at SAM have long warned: The move to reschedule marijuana is rooted in politics, not science. The authors meticulously detail how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ignored long-established legal and scientific standards by substituting new, untested criteria that downplay the drug’s risks and misrepresent its medical utility. It shows, with clarity, that HHS failed to meet the basic standards required to justify such a radical shift in policy. The science simply doesn’t support rescheduling, and this paper proves it.
“Marijuana is not a safe, proven medicine. Rescheduling it now would send a dangerous message and put prevention efforts at risk, in addition to giving the pot industry a huge tax break. This is exactly the kind of evidence-based, prevention-focused analysis that’s been missing from our national conversation.
“This report is also a clear reminder of why prevention must remain at the heart of our drug policy strategy. We cannot allow policy to be dictated by commercial interests and political momentum while ignoring public health. As SAM has long stated, if youth delay drug use until age 21, they are far less likely to develop a substance-use disorder. Every policy decision must be judged by whether it helps or hinders that goal.
“I urge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject HHS’s misguided recommendation and preserve the scientific rigor of the scheduling process. The facts presented in this paper make clear that rescheduling marijuana would undermine decades of prevention work. It will send the wrong message to young people and erode the credibility of the FDA’s medical standards.”