Secretary Xavier Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently revealed during an event on overdose prevention that the agency was focused on completing a review on federal marijuana scheduling, as was recently directed by President Joseph Biden.
President Biden ordered that a scheduling review be carried out by the department following his issuance of marijuana pardons, which saw thousands of individuals convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law being released.
The health secretary has thus far raised the issue with the head of the FDA, Dr. Robert M. Califf. The department head added that the FDA was committed to supporting evidence-based policies for cannabis, noting that the science-focused approach also applied to policy decisions on other drugs.
When asked about drug decriminalization efforts, Becerra noted that while it wasn’t in the department’s jurisdiction to make policy decisions on such matters, the department would base its guidance to the federal government on both evidence as well as science. He then added that the main focus when it came to drug policy needed to be on keeping individuals alive and allowing them to thrive. Becerra has in the past supported marijuana reform as an attorney general of California and even before, as a Congressman.
Senator Tammy Baldwin, who was also present at the event, revealed that she was in favor of cannabis decriminalization. Baldwin, who has co-championed a number of reforms, also highlighted the conflict between state law and federal law when it came to drug policies.
With regard to Biden’s scheduling order, Rahul Gupta, the White House Drug Czar, stated that the move was historic and highlighted that marijuana possessed various medical benefits.
The Department of Justice is also conducting a separate scheduling review as directed by Biden; its review could cause marijuana to be reclassified in a lower schedule or even be scraped from its current classification altogether. Marijuana’s removal from its current schedule would effectively legalize it under federal law. This move is supported by the majority of Americans, with a series of polls showing that most are in favor of Biden’s pardon action and do not think cannabis qualifies to be classified as a Schedule I federal drug.
At the moment, however, the drug will remain classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
In related news, the president commended a move by Governor Kate Brown of Oregon to grant cannabis pardons to tens of thousands of individuals, noting that other states needed to follow suit.
The entire cannabis industry, including entities such as Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC), will be following the scheduling review process closely since the policy recommendations made could have far-reaching implications for the future of the industry.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/FLGC
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