HHS Promises to Review MJ Rescheduling Petition

Steph Sherer (of Americans for Safe Access) and I took the opportunity of the confirmation hearing of
HHS-nominee Michael Leavitt to raise awareness of the marijuana
rescheduling petition and to put the future Secretary on notice that
the Senate was watching to see whether the Department would
unreasonably delay its response to the DEA. The following question was
submitted by Senator Jim Jeffords (and the answer from Leavitt
follows):

Question:

In August of 2004, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) forwarded
a petition to reschedule marijuana to the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS). The DEA requested from HHS a scientific and
medical evaluation of marijuana, upon which it would base its decision
as to whether to reschedule marijuana. By law, the Secretary of HHS is
required to conduct this evaluation ìwithin a reasonable time.îÝ

As you may know, 10 states, including my home state of Vermont,
currently allow for the medical use of marijuana, while the federal
government does not.Ý To address this discrepancy, the HHS evaluation
needs to move forward.Ý Governor Leavitt, can you work to ensure that
this evaluation is completed by August 2005, one year after the request
was received by HHS?Ý If not, could you please explain what you would
consider a ìreasonable timeî for this evaluation to be?

Answer:

FDA is currently reviewing the scientific data and must conduct a
scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana in accordance with the
statutory criteria and make a recommendation to DEA.Ý We will make
every effort to complete the evaluation by August 2005.
____________

-- Steve Fox, Director of Government Relations
-- Marijuana Policy Project
-- P.O. Box 77492 -- Capitol Hill -- Washington, D.C. 20013
-- http://www.mpp.org -- steve [at] mpp.org
-- phone 202-462-5747, ext. 106 -- fax 202-232-0442