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.
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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.”