Doctors Call On DEA To Reschedule Marijuana For Medical Research Purposes

The American Academy of Pediatrics is requesting that the Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify marijuana as a less harmful substance in order to facilitate research of the substance for medical use, according to a policy statement released Monday.

“The AAP strongly supports research and development of pharmaceutical cannabinoids and supports a review of policies promoting research on the medical use of these compounds,” the AAP statement reads. To that end, the group recommends that the DEA reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule II.

The DEA has made previous requests, in 2001 and 2006, to the FDA for an evaluation of marijuana. Those requests were the results of public petitions requesting a rescheduling, FDA Deputy Director Doug Throckmorton explained in testimony delivered during a congressional hearing last year. But DEA regulators determined after both of those reviews that marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance. The FDA cited insufficient available research about marijuana’s effectiveness in treating a number of ailments.

While the FDA hasn’t advocated for legalization of the drug, it said in a 2014 update to its guidelines on marijuana that it is “aware that there is considerable interest in its use to attempt to treat a number of medical conditions, including, for example, glaucoma, AIDS wasting syndrome, neuropathic pain, cancer, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and certain seizure disorders.”

The Huffington Post