On March 9, 2023, a group of nonpartisan Congress legislators penned a letter to senior Biden administration figures asking for transparency on the president’s ongoing review of marijuana’s legalization. A draft of the letter was recently distributed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) among Congress for signatures before being sent to Xavier Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Merrick Garland, United States attorney general.
According to the letter’s content, Biden’s scheduling directive presents a chance to evaluate the causes and effects of federal law in an open-minded manner. It also states that cannabis scheduling was based on prejudice rather than science and that it is time to face the fact that cannabis is currently a state-regulated drug.
The legislators stated that administrative descheduling would not absolve Congress of its duty to enact comprehensive federal marijuana reform owing to the fact that there have been numerous well-considered reform proposals presented in previous sessions. All of these bills and proposals, according to the letter, aim to honor the state-led initiative that has been going on for 50 years to reexamine marijuana policy in the context of the failed and prejudiced war on drugs.
There are 16 signatories to the letter, including Representatives Lou Correa, Barbara Lee, Nancy Mace, Mark Pocan, Dina Titus, Bonnie Coleman, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Val Hoyle, Donald Payne, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Jim McGovern, Nikema Williams, Jan Schakowsky and Jared Huffman, as well as Blumenauer, cochair of the Congress Marijuana Caucus.
In the meantime, Becerra responded to another letter addressed to President Joseph Biden in December about the need for the government to acknowledge the benefits of cannabis descheduling and adopt a firm stance. The response letter was sent to lawmakers, including Lee and Blumenauer.
Instead of responding to the lawmakers’ main request, the HHS office merely reaffirmed the department’s responsibility for conducting the marijuana review and concluded by stating that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) makes the ultimate decision following the completion of a comprehensive scientific analysis.
In a separate statement, the attorney general said that the Department of Justice is still drafting a cannabis policy while awaiting the scientific review’s findings from different health agencies.
On the other hand, Biden has often touted his marijuana scheduling order and pardons in the past few months, with his most recent proclamation made at a celebration marking the conclusion of African American History Month.
The outcome of the ongoing scheduling review could have widespread impacts on various companies, such as India Globalization Capital Inc. (NYSE American: IGC), that are seeking to develop medicines from cannabis compounds such as THC.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to India Globalization Capital Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC
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