Senior HHS official calls to move marijuana to lower-risk drug category- Bloomberg News (updated)

Cronos

30/08/2023 18:03

(Adds details from the report in paragraphs 2 and 3)
       Aug 30 (Reuters) - A senior Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) official has recommended easing
restrictions on marijuana, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday
citing a letter.
    In the letter addressed to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
administrator Anne Milgram, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health
Rachel Levine asked for marijuana to be reclassified as a
Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, according
to the report.
    Marijuana is currently classified as a so-called Schedule I
drug, meaning its possession is almost entirely banned except
for certain research purposes. The classification is the same as
that of heroin used for drugs deemed to have no legitimate
medical uses.
    The HHS and the DEA did not immediately respond to Reuters'
requests for a comment.
    Shares of several cannabis firms including Canopy Growth
 WEED.TO , Tilray Brands  TLRY.O  and Cronos Group  CRON.TO  
jumped after the report. 
    
    

 (Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Sourasis.Bose@thomsonreuters.com;))