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Showing Original Post only (View all)Marijuana Considered for Looser Restrictions by U.S. FDA [View all]
By Anna Edney Jun 20, 2014 12:03 PM ET
U.S. regulators are studying whether restrictions on marijuana should be eased, a step toward decriminalizing the drug at the federal level.
The Food and Drug Administration is conducting an analysis at the Drug Enforcement Administrations request on whether the U.S. should downgrade the classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, said Douglas Throckmorton, Deputy Director for Regulatory Programs at the FDA, at a congressional hearing.
Schedule 1 drugs carry the most restrictions of the five DEA classifications and are considered substances with no medical benefit that are highly addictive. Factors the FDA considers in making a recommendation include a drugs abuse potential, its pharmacological effect and risk to public health, according to Throckmortons written testimony.
This has big implications, said Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican, who is leading the oversight hearing on pot research as part of an examination of changing societal attitudes about the drug.
The FDA reviewed marijuanas status for the DEA in 2001 and 2006 and recommended it remain Schedule 1, Throckmorton said. The DEA has since been petitioned to change marijuanas classification and that has been sent to us and were in the process of conducting an eight-factor analysis, Throckmorton told Mica.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-20/drug-regulators-study-easing-u-s-marijuana-restrictions.html