Federal Government Seeks Public Input on Global Cannabis Reclassification

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he support behind cannabis has reached a tipping point. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) under the Trump administration, is asking the public to submit comments to gather information on the country’s position on cannabis. This is being done before the United States will weighs in on the classification of cannabis with the United Nations.

The FDA is seeking input on the “abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use of” cannabis and its derivatives.

“These comments will be considered in preparing a response from the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the abuse liability and diversion of these drugs,” the FDA wrote in a Federal Register notice that is scheduled to be published on April 9. “WHO will use this information to consider whether to recommend that certain international restrictions be placed on these drugs. This notice requesting comments is required by the Controlled Substances Act (the CSA).”

WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence will convene in Geneva from June 4-8 to discuss marijuana’s classification, then make pre-review recommendations to the UN secretary-general concerning conducting a more in-depth analysis. Then, if the findings are positive, cannabis could be rescheduled internationally, according to Forbes.

Cannabis remains classified as Schedule 1 both under the U.S. government and under global agreements. Nations that have signed U.N. drug treaties are not supposed to legalize cannabis as Schedule I defines the plant as having no accepted medical value.

Most recently, the committee finally found CBD to have medical benefits, and little risks. “There is no evidence of . . . any public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD,” the committee wrote.

This new development could help fix the cannabis legalization conundrum—at its core, which would open the doors for nations across the globe to legalize cannabis. The public comments are due by April 23.