House Republicans urge Trump against reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous drug

FIRST ON FOX: A bunch of Republicans within the Home of Representatives are urging President Donald Trump in opposition to an anticipated transfer to reclassify marijuana as a much less harmful drug.

Rep. Pete Classes, R-Texas, and Home Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., are main 24 different GOP lawmakers in a letter to Trump, urging him to maintain marijuana a Schedule I drug below Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) laws.

“We write to induce you to oppose the rescheduling of marijuana, a dangerous drug that’s worsening our nation’s dependancy disaster,” the letter mentioned. “Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug will ship the improper message to America’s kids, allow drug cartels and make our roads extra harmful.”

The letter has help from a broad cross-section of the Republican Get together, together with moderates, members of the Home Freedom Caucus and mainstream Republican lawmakers.

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A bunch of Republicans within the Home of Representatives are writing a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to not reintroduce marijuana as a much less harmful drug. (Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman through Getty Photos; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photos)

Marijuana is at present thought of a Schedule I drug, the identical classification stage as heroin, ecstasy and LSD. In keeping with the DEA web site, Schedule I medication are thought of to have “no present medical use and a excessive potential for abuse.”

The president mentioned Monday that he’s contemplating downgrading marijuana to Schedule III, together with Tylenol and anabolic steroids, that are thought of “medication with a average to low potential for bodily and psychological dependence.”

“We’re taking that into consideration. Lots of people need to see it, the reclassification, as a result of it results in monumental quantities of analysis that may’t be executed until you reclassify,” Trump mentioned within the Oval Workplace this week. “So we’re wanting very carefully at that.”

Related plans below the Biden administration, based mostly on a suggestion from former President Joe Biden’s Well being and Human Providers Division (HHS), have been suspended in January.

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“The Biden administration’s rescheduling choice was improper. As a substitute of following the science, the Biden White Home sought to develop the usage of an addictive drug for partisan acquire,” Home Republicans mentioned.

“Opposite to the marijuana business’s declare that rescheduling will lead to extra analysis, the US has been researching this drug for many years. Congress has even handed a bipartisan invoice to develop marijuana analysis whereas holding the drug in Schedule I.”

Consultant Pete Classes leads the letter to President Donald Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc through Getty Photos)

The lawmakers argued that marijuana is “addictive” and has “no medical worth.”

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“In keeping with a lately revealed fifteen-year evaluation of medical analysis, marijuana has no actual medical worth, and 30% of medical marijuana customers are hooked on the drug,” they wrote. “Rescheduling tells our youth that marijuana use is suitable and protected, a harmful lie that may sink us deeper into our nation’s drug disaster.”

The most typical use of medical marijuana within the US is ache administration, in keeping with a 2020 report Harvard Healthwhereas being much less addictive than opioid medicines used for a similar causes.

It’s also used to regulate nausea, whereas some veterans teams such because the American Legion have pushed for extra analysis into its results on PTSD.

Rescheduling marijuana wouldn’t routinely legalize it, however it will open up extra alternatives for analysis and sure enterprise actions involving the drug.

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However Home Republicans argued it will even be a boon to Chinese language government-linked cartels “working hundreds of marijuana farms throughout the nation” and “make our roads extra harmful.”

“Underneath Schedule III, pilots, truck drivers and different safety-sensitive professions is not going to be examined for marijuana. Marijuana already compromises security: greater than 40% of deadly automobile crashes right now contain THC. Rescheduling will exponentially worsen this disaster,” they wrote.

“Rescheduling marijuana is not going to make America nice. You could have all the time been a job mannequin for America’s youth and spent years telling younger individuals by no means to make use of medication. We hope you’ll take into account the downsides of rearranging marijuana and proceed to ship that highly effective message of hope to the subsequent technology.”

A White Home official, in response to the letter, advised Fox Information Digital: “The President is dedicated to increasing medical analysis into promising remedies for American sufferers. The present EO doesn’t legalize leisure marijuana use or pave the best way for leisure marijuana use.”