Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Russia shows resilience. There is more to do for Ukraine.

Trump promises tax cuts and fewer rules. CEOs shouldn’t fall for it.

Tariffs against China hamstring the transition to a clean energy future

She finished chemo then got a medical degree: ‘The dream is real now’

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

Man, 91, shocks tiny firehouse with $500K gift: ‘Nobody knew how much I’d saved’

Joey Gallo returns, but Nats endure another quiet offensive night

Walter Johnson’s jersey from 1920 showdown with Babe Ruth sold at auction

Bryce Harper, Joey Gallo and a bond forged by baseball since they were kids

How Jim Jordan tried to connect the dots on Biden’s $8 million book deal

‘Never Trump?’ ‘Never Biden’ voters might loom larger.

Ukraine gamble pays off: Republicans face little backlash in primaries

The world’s coolest hotels want to tell you a story

Cruise ships to return to Baltimore two months after bridge collapse 

Some cruise prices are about to get a little more clear

Book Tour: At home with Amor Towles

In photos: The scene in Houston after severe storms killed at least 7 people

Deadly storm blasts Houston

Biden’s false claim that inflation was 9 percent when he took office

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

Carolyn Hax: Is it weird to ask other people to care about you?

Ask Amy: Can’t a single woman eat alone without interruption?

Miss Manners: Miss Manners: Gag gift falls flat

Blue Origin to fly again as space tourism struggles to get off the ground

Why this company’s biggest fans turned against it

Boeing delays spaceflight again as it continues to struggle with leak

Zelensky’s chief aide flexes power, irks critics — and makes no apologies

IDF recovers bodies of 3 Israelis killed on Oct. 7

With its energy network nearly destroyed, Ukraine already fears the winter

At campus protests, ‘DO NOT TALK TO THE MEDIA’!

CNN gets a presidential debate — and a much-needed win

Netflix will air NFL’s Christmas games, a major step for streaming service

Trump

Healthy living, including food, fitness, longevity and mental health

See more coverage in your recommendations

See alerts for Health and Wellness developments

Health & wellness

Tips on living better delivered every Thursday

Well+Being newsletter

Health alerts

Health & Science alerts

Arin Yoon

Federal health officials determined marijuana poses a lower public health risk than other controlled substances and offers possible medical benefits before they proposed ending its designation as among the riskiest drugs, according to <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pw3rfs9gm6lg80ij9tja6/2023-01171-Supplemental-Release-1.pdf?rlkey=v5atj0tcnhxhnszyyzcwdcvvt&dl=0" target=_blank>documents</a> released Friday.

The extensive scientific review illuminates the rationale underpinning a recommendation last summer that marked a significant shift in how the federal government has treated a drug that is legal for a majority of Americans to purchase. This is the first time the Department of Health and Human Services has publicly acknowledged marijuana’s medical use.

The health agency in August <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/08/31/marijuana-reclassification-schedule-iii-hhs-dea/" target=_blank>recommended</a> that the Drug Enforcement Administration change marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug, a designation reserved for substances that have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. The classification has long been a source of criticism that one of the most commonly used drugs is in the same category as heroin and LSD. The DEA has yet to act on the recommendation.

Why marijuana rescheduling may not be a big reform win

Marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes in 38 states and D.C. Federal officials proposed classifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, in the same category as substances that can be obtained with a prescription such as anabolic steroids, ketamine and testosterone.

In the analysis conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, officials determined marijuana is less harmful than other drugs. The nation’s overdose crisis has reached staggering proportions, with opioids and other drugs killing more than 100,000 each year.

“Although abuse of marijuana produces clear evidence of harmful consequences, including substance use disorder, they are relatively less common and less harmful than some other comparator drugs,” the document said.

Federal officials previously declined to answer questions about their justifications for recommending rescheduling and released heavily redacted documents outlining their rationale in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Washington Post. Matt Zorn, a lawyer in Texas, first released the unredacted documents Friday in his <a href="https://ondrugs.substack.com/p/update-on-hhs-foia-litigation" target=_blank>newsletter</a> after successfully suing HHS for their release. HHS confirmed the authenticity of the documents.

In October 2022, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">President Biden</a> directed his administration to expedite a review of whether marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance.

Biden pardons people convicted of simple marijuana possession

The move came after the federal government repeatedly rejected entreaties to reclassify the drug. When federal health officials conducted a scientific and <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/08/12/2016-17954/denial-of-petition-to-initiate-proceedings-to-reschedule-marijuana" target=_blank>medical evaluation </a>for a 2016 review under the Obama administration, they concluded marijuana has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

Seven years later, they’ve changed their tune.

The 2023 FDA analysis determined chronic, but not acute, marijuana use can lead to physical dependence that is “moderate to low” and psychological dependence with a low likelihood of severe outcomes. Officials said dependence is “relatively mild” for most individuals but can be more severe with increased exposure.

Marijuana addiction is real. Those struggling face skepticism

“While marijuana is associated with a high prevalence of abuse, the profile of and propensity for serious outcomes related to that abuse lead to a conclusion that marijuana is most appropriately controlled in Schedule III,” the evaluation said.

Officials also determined “some credible scientific support” for some of the ways marijuana is being used as medicine. They found it has a “currently accepted medical use” for nausea, vomiting and pain, but noted it did not find support for the drug providing benefit for epilepsy, anxiety and PTSD.

“Additionally, no safety concerns were identified in our review that would indicate that medical use of marijuana poses unacceptably high safety risks for the indications where there is some credible scientific evidence supporting its therapeutic use,” the evaluation said.

Keith Humphreys, a former White House drug policy adviser, said he does not believe the science is particularly strong for using cannabis as medicine, particularly much-touted claims it relieves pain. He pointed out today’s marijuana products are increasingly potent. But with so many states already operating medical marijuana programs, HHS and FDA’s change of perspective “is a concession to reality,” he said.

“It’s out there already,” Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said of medical marijuana. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

Howard Sklamberg, a former FDA deputy commissioner, said the analysis was “nothing unexpected” but reflected the significant research and information that has emerged since the last time the agency conducted a scientific analysis.

Seniors are embracing marijuana which offers relief and risk

“For years, people said it was important to gather information and publish and eventually it would affect policy — and that’s exactly what happened,” Sklamberg said.

Sklamberg predicted DEA would follow HHS’s recommendation. He noted that DEA, by law, must defer to the FDA’s analysis on the science of marijuana’s potential for medical use.

Zorn, the attorney who sued for the release of the scientific review, said he believes the document has broader implications because the FDA is acknowledging that states, which regulate the practice of medicine, also have a say in defining accepted medical use. That could be important as states explore decriminalizing substances such as psilocybin, the hallucinogen with the potential to treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Oregon and Colorado have legalized its supervised use.

“To me, it’s not about the science,” Zorn said. “It’s about the legal shift.”

Experts say marijuana rescheduling could have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/08/31/marijuana-reclassification-schedule-iii-hhs-dea/" target=_blank>big implications </a>from lowering tax bills for cannabis companies in states where marijuana is legal and removing barriers to scientific research into the drug.

Some marijuana advocates have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/11/22/marijuana-rescheduling-research-penalties/#:~:text=Marijuana%20is%20illegal%20at%20the,prison%20just%20for%20having%20marijuana." target="_blank">cautioned</a> against declaring rescheduling a major victory, noting reclassification alone would not change penalties for major federal marijuana cases and regulatory confusion would persist.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), a longtime proponent of relaxing marijuana laws, hailed the changes in how federal health officials view the drugs.

“It is another step toward the inevitable legalization of cannabis and ending this sad chapter of the failed war on drugs,” he said in a statement.

Northwestern University, BS in journalism and political science. 

American University, MSJ in journalism. 

Fenit Nirappil is a reporter for the Health & Science team who covers public health, infectious diseases and LGBTQ issues. He previously covered local politics. 

Fenit Nirappil

David Ovalle

George Polk Award, 2020

Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting finalist, 2021

University of Pennsylvania, BA in history

Dan Diamond is a national health reporter for The Washington Post. He joined The Post in 2021 after five years at Politico, where he won a George Polk award for investigating the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dan Diamond

Marijuana rescheduling proposed over lower public health risk, documents show

the-washington-post

HS-MARIJUANA ADDICTION

for The Washington Post

Health Care

Medical Mysteries

Science

Well+Being

Health

washpost

prism://prism.query/site,/health&limit=20

The Washington Post health section provides coverage and analysis of health, healthcare, nutrition and fitness news.