In an isolated section of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters known as the 12th-floor “bubble,” Director Ann Milgram told senior lawmakers who had been summoned in March for what she called a “marijuana meeting.” He made an unusual request. It was that no one could take notes.
Over the next 30 minutes, she announced the news that the Biden administration would soon issue a long-awaited order. Reclassifying cannabis as a less dangerous drug, a major hurdle to federal legalization that the DEA has resisted for years. And Milgram went on to say that the process normally led by the DEA was taken over by the U.S. Department of Justice, and the action was not signed by her, according to two people familiar with the private meeting who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. , which must be signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Milgram did not disclose to aides the reason for her unprecedented inaction, and neither she nor the DEA has since provided an explanation. But last week’s events unfolded exactly as outlined at the meeting two months ago, with the most significant drug policy changes in 50 years being launched without the support of the nation’s largest drug enforcement agency.
“The DEA has not yet made a decision regarding its views on the appropriate scheduling of marijuana,” reads a line on page 13 of a 92-page order issued by Garland last Thursday. states that it outlines the Biden administration’s proposal to move cannabis out of Schedule I. LSD for the less tightly regulated Schedule III, using drugs such as ketamine and some anabolic steroids.
Internal records accompanying the order show that in late January, the DEA sent a memo to the Department of Justice seeking additional scientific opinion to determine whether marijuana has an authorized medical use, a key requirement for reclassification. Sent to. But Justice Department lawyers dismissed those concerns, finding the DEA’s standards to be “unacceptably narrow.”
Several current and former DEA officials told The Associated Press they believe politics may be involved, arguing that the Justice Department is moving forward with reclassifying marijuana because President Joe Biden wants to exploit the issue. charm voters with his reelection With the election campaign underway, he did not intend to give the DEA time for further investigation, which would likely extend beyond Election Day.
These officials also pointed out that while the Controlled Substances Act gives the Attorney General responsibility for regulating the sale of dangerous drugs, federal law still delegates the authority to classify drugs to the DEA administrator. .
“It’s clear to me that the Department of Justice hijacked the rescheduling process and put politics above public safety,” said Derek Maltz, a former narcotics agent and former head of the DEA’s special operations division. he said. “If there is scientific evidence to support this decision, that’s fine. But we need to have scientists evaluate it.”
Former DEA Administrator Tim Shea said Milgram’s notable lack of endorsement suggests she is supporting “DEA experts.”
“If she supported this, she would have signed it and submitted it,” said Shea, who worked in the Trump administration. “The DEA was against this, but politics intervened and overruled it. It’s demoralizing. Everyone from the street agents to the DEA leadership knows the danger this poses.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previously said Biden is committed to fulfilling his 2020 campaign promises. “He said no American who possesses marijuana should go to prison. It’s impacting communities across the country, including communities of color.”
Justice Department lawyers defended Garland’s decision to proceed without Milgram’s support, saying in a separate memo that the action was prompted by “disparate views” between the DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services. . Last year’s HHS Recommendation Reclassified marijuana, deeming it a lower risk to public health than cocaine, heroin, and oxycodone and more effective in treating anorexia, pain, and other ailments.
HHS concluded in part that “while marijuana abuse produces clear evidence of a risk to public health, that risk is relatively lower than the risk posed by other drugs.”
The DEA balked at these findings, and Garland’s order notes at least 10 times that the drug agency requested additional information before accepting HHS’ medical findings. He did not respond to AP inquiries seeking further comment.
The Justice Department did not comment on the internal disagreement, but said in a statement that the proposal is “consistent with HHS’s scientific and medical judgment.”
The dissonance within the federal government highlights the continuing debate over the risks cannabis poses, even though 38 states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 states have legalized recreational use. ing. All the while, more voters (70% of adults, according to a Gallup poll last fall) support legalization, the highest level ever recorded by the pollster.
“The claim that marijuana is as dangerous as fentanyl, cocaine, or methamphetamine is laughable,” said Matthew C. Zorn, a Houston attorney who writes a newsletter on cannabis regulation. “The DEA does not stand with most Americans. They are on the wrong side of history.”
However, even HHS’s National Institute on Drug Abuse has issued a statement that clearly contradicts HHS’s recommendation to reclassify marijuana, noting that marijuana’s potency has steadily increased over the past few years, leading to respiratory problems and They claim that emergency room visits are on the rise for treatment of a variety of physical and psychological effects, from psychotic disorders to hallucinations and paranoia.
Nora Borkow, a neuroscientist who heads NIDA, currently says: “Whether smoking or other forms of marijuana consumption has therapeutic benefits that outweigh the health risks is an open question that science has not yet resolved.” This is currently reported to be stated on the NIDA website. A NIDA spokesperson said the rescheduling would encourage further research into the drug.
NIDA last medically evaluated marijuana in 2015, a year after the Obama administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) rejected a similar request to reschedule marijuana.
Now, after President Biden ordered a review of the drug’s status in 2022, HHS has adopted new criteria for reaching reclassification conclusions, taking into account states that have already legalized medical marijuana. did.
movement to change the schedule, first reported The Associated Press faced a potentially lengthy process last month. Although the DEA is not bound by HHS medical decisions at this time, public comment The rescheduling plan will be considered prior to review by an administrative judge and publication of the final rule. Federal prosecutions related to marijuana are already extremely rare, but once classified as Schedule III, marijuana remains a controlled substance subject to rules and regulations.
Milgram has said little about her stance on marijuana, and was not asked about it during her confirmation. When she took over the agency’s command in 2021, she told her colleagues that the legalization discussion was a far cry from the much deeper fentanyl crisis, according to one of the people who spoke to The Associated Press. He said privately that he considered it a distraction.
Mr. Milgram is known for his progressive, data-driven approach to law enforcement since his time as New Jersey’s Democratic attorney general. When his close ally, the governor, signed a bill in 2010 that made him the 14th state in the state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, he said only that the bill was “workable.” Ta.
Her three-sentence announcement to DEA officials obtained by The Associated Press last week was similarly opaque.
“As appropriate, DEA will post this notice and all attachments on our website,” she wrote.
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Goodman reported from Miami and Mustian from New York. Associated Press writer Lindsey Whitehurst in Washington contributed.
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Contact AP’s global research team. [email protected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/
