What Biden’s Marijuana Statement Means for Cannabis Researchers
14-Oct-22 05:45:58
The drug’s Schedule 1 classification makes it harder to study than cocaine.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden made three pretty surprising statements regarding marijuana reform. Dank Brandon announced a pardon of all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, which affects 6,500 people convicted between 1992 and 2021, as well as those convicted in the District of Columbia. He also urged all governors to do the same at the state level.
In the third part of his announcement, Biden said he would ask the secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. This would have implications for federal policy and the cannabis industry—as well as our very understanding of marijuana as a substance.
Marijuana is defined as anything from a cannabis plant that has more than 0.3 percent of the psychoactive compound THC. (Anything below that is defined as hemp and legal under the Agriculture Improvement Act.) It’s currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug, alongside other compounds such as LSD and heroin. It’s a pretty big deal that the president would even consider changing marijuana’s status. It’s also a perfectly sensible move: Marijuana is currently classified as more dangerous than fentanyl and methamphetamine, the president explained. While weed can have some negative side effects, those other compounds can be deadly.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden made three pretty surprising statements regarding marijuana reform. Dank Brandon announced a pardon of all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, which affects 6,500 people convicted between 1992 and 2021, as well as those convicted in the District of Columbia. He also urged all governors to do the same at the state level.
In the third part of his announcement, Biden said he would ask the secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. This would have implications for federal policy and the cannabis industry—as well as our very understanding of marijuana as a substance.
Marijuana is defined as anything from a cannabis plant that has more than 0.3 percent of the psychoactive compound THC. (Anything below that is defined as hemp and legal under the Agriculture Improvement Act.) It’s currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug, alongside other compounds such as LSD and heroin. It’s a pretty big deal that the president would even consider changing marijuana’s status. It’s also a perfectly sensible move: Marijuana is currently classified as more dangerous than fentanyl and methamphetamine, the president explained. While weed can have some negative side effects, those other compounds can be deadly.
What’s more, weed both holds promise as a medicinal compound and is subject to a huge amount of hype. “One of my concerns as a citizen and a researcher is all of the claims that are being made about the medical effects of cannabis and cannabis products,” explains R. Lorraine Collins, the director of the University at Buffalo’s Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. “Right now it’s being presented as a panacea for hundreds of disorders, and we have no or very little data about many if not most of those conditions.” In particular, scientists I spoke to emphasized there are many claims about THC’s potential ability to treat brain injury or cancer, but research is limited.
SOURCE: SLATE