DEA Chief Believes Cannabis is Not Medicine
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) acting Chief Chuck Rosenberg said yesterday that he’s sticking to his stance that cannabis is not medicine. The DEA has continued to schedule cannabis as a Schedule I designation under the Controlled Substances Act, based on recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“If it turns out that there is something in smoked marijuana that helps people, that’s awesome,” DEA acting Chief Chuck Rosenberg said at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “I will be the last person to stand in the way of that. . . But let’s run it through the Food and Drug Administration process, and let’s stick to the science on it.” The FDA has been known for discouraging medical cannabis in the past.
The FDA’s website, which was last updated on February 28, 2017, offers little support for medical cannabis, despite the rising numbers of studies and first-hand accounts of its positive effects in treating a variety of medical conditions. “Untested drugs can have unknown consequences,” the FDA’s website states. The agency goes on to say “The FDA has not approved marijuana as a safe and effective drug for any indication.”
At least 20,000 scientific studies on medical cannabis—the most studied plant in existence—have taken place. Still, cannabis is listed under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Substances such as methamphetamine and oxycodone are classified as Schedule II, meaning they have legitimate medical benefits in certain cases, and are available to children as young as 11 years old, with the whole-hearted blessing from the FDA. But the acting Chief of the DEA still isn’t convinced that cannabis has any medical benefits.
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who spoke alongside Rosenberg, at least holds the opinion that more research is needed. “When you develop a substance use disorder at a young age, it actually increases the likelihood of you developing an addiction to other substances,” Murthy said. “So in that sense addiction to marijuana or any substance, including nicotine, during adolescence and young adulthood when the brain is developing is very concerning.”
Despite the various scientific evidence that supports the medicinal benefits of cannabis, Murthy also shared concern that scientific data is not at the forefront of cannabis-related policies. “I worry that we have gotten away from allowing science to drive our policy when it comes to marijuana,” he added. Rosenberg called medical cannabis “a joke” in 2015, but for patients with severe epilepsy and chronic pain, it is definitely no joke. But 20,000 studies are not enough—at least for the FDA and the DEA.
