DEA Endorses New, Simplified Test To Determine Marijuana’s Medical Uses Amid Rescheduling Debate: Could It Also Apply To Psychedelics?
In a notable shift, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has acknowledged the legitimacy of a new two-part test to determine a substance’s accepted medical use, particularly in relation to marijuana. As reported by Marijuana Moment, this development, embedded in a recent notice about synthetic opioid scheduling, could have significant implications for the ongoing cannabis rescheduling process.
Traditionally, the DEA relied on a five-part test to evaluate whether a drug had a “currently accepted medical use”, but earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) introduced a simplified two-part analysis. This analysis played a key role in the HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
The New Two-Part Test
The revised test focuses on two key questions: whether licensed healthcare providers currently use the substance …