DEA cites lack of safety, abuse potential in rejection of medical marijuana

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has announced several actions on marijuana classification and research, as well as hemp cultivation, the agency stated in a press release.

The actions included a denial of two petitions to reschedule marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), calling for "sound, scientific, and rigorous" research.

Chuck Rosenberg, acting administrator of the DEA, wrote in a letter to Gina M. Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island, Jay R. Inslee, governor of Washington, and Bryan A. Krumm, who filed the petitions, that scheduling decisions are based on medical, scientific and other data.

The agency requested recommendations from the HHS and included evaluations from the FDA, which consulted with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Rosenberg noted that the FDA drug approval process "has worked effectively in this country for more than 50 years."

"Using established scientific standards that are consistent with that same FDA drug approval process and based on the FDA's scientific and medical evaluation, as well as the legal standards in the CSA, marijuana will remain a schedule I controlled substance," he wrote. "It does not have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, there is a lack of accepted safety for its use under medical supervision, and it has a high potential for abuse."

He continued: "If the scientific understanding about marijuana changes — and it could change — then the decision could change. But we remain tethered to science, as we must, and as the statute demands. It certainly would be odd to rely on science when it suits us and ignore it otherwise."

Rosenberg emphasized that the DEA supports legitimate marijuana research and will identify more ways to make the research process more efficient.

"The DEA and FDA continue to believe that scientifically valid and well-controlled clinical trials conducted under investigational new drug applications are the proper way to research all potential new medicines, including marijuana," he wrote. "Furthermore, we believe that the drug approval process is the proper way to assess whether a product derived from marijuana or its constituent parts is safe and effective for medical use."

In other actions, the DEA announced a policy change that will allow for more authorized marijuana manufacturers to provide a greater supply for researchers and released a statement of principles on industrial hemp and the Agricultural Act of 2014.