WASHINGTON- Today, Congressman Pete Sessions (TX-17) and Senator James Lankford (OK) released a bicameral public comment letter with 23 other Members of Congress strongly opposing the Biden administration’s recent decision to move marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance. The letter emphasizes that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made the recommendation to reschedule based on politics, not science. The rescheduling ignores the increasing danger of high-potency marijuana, creating a high risk for public health threats such as youth overdoses, schizophrenia, and psychosis. The letter notes that THC is addictive at rates over 30% with long-term and permanent consequences on brain development. 

“The decision to disregard public safety and medical concerns to reclassify marijuana is strictly political. This egregious proposed rule fails to provide sufficient science and data in support. Senator Lankford and I are leading the charge in raising the alarm from Congress,” said Congressman Sessions

Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and former three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today about the letter: “We are grateful for Congressman Sessions’ and Senator Lankford’s leadership to speak out about the public health threats of rescheduling marijuana. The recent HHS decision gets ahead of the science and takes Big Marijuana a step further in their shameless pursuit of addicting the American people to a dangerous drug. The scientific evidence shows that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, which is only growing in the face of high-potency, deadly products, marketed by a predatory industry. Rescheduling marijuana during an election year makes clear that the nation’s drug policy is being used to gain a political advantage with the principal targets of the pot industry, namely young people. The points made by Congressman Sessions and Senator Lankford must be seriously considered by the DEA and DOJ before any decision on rescheduling is finalized.”

You can view the letter here.