Biden's Health Secretary Stalls On Completing Marijuana Review By 4/20

Xavier Becerra, Biden's secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) signaled this week that marijuana's federal scheduling status is not likely to be reviewed prior to 4/20, the unofficial cannabis holiday, reported Marijuana Moment.

In a recent interview with KDKA-TV Becerra said "we're going to try to move quickly," even though he did not explicitly answer whether the HHS would take any action on the issue by April 20.

"It's got to go through a number of hoops and, again, safety and efficacy are what will drive this determination, so stay tuned," the secretary said.

Becerra has said in the past that the department would review the status of cannabis as a Schedule I drug as well as undertake a scientific review of the plant, especially after Biden's pardons of federal cannabis prisoners. Becerra added that he's already discussed the issue with the head of the FDA.

"I think you're going to find that we're going to move as quickly as we can, but, at the end of the day, science is going to take us to a solution," Becerra said at the time.

The HHS head reiterated in December that "the Biden administration is committed to supporting evidence-based policies for marijuana as it works to complete a review of federal cannabis scheduling as directed by the president."

On Monday, Becerra once again highlighted that the assessment will be based on "science" and "safety for Americans."

Breaking: Twitter Execs To Give Keynote At Benzinga's Cannabis Event

Twitter Inc's TWTR Alexa Alianiello (Twitter US Sales & Partnerships) and Rohan Routroy (Twitter NEXT) will share their insights as featured keynote speakers at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami Beach on April 11-12, 2023. This marks the first time Twitter will be meeting with cannabis industry executives to discuss the role the social networking giant will play in the cannabis industry and you don't want to miss that. 

Bipartisan Congress Members Urge Biden Administration To Make Marijuana Scheduling Review Transparent

Meanwhile, earlier this month, sixteen bipartisan congressional lawmakers signed a letter urging Biden's administration to make marijuana scheduling review available to the public.

The group led by Representative and Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Earl Blumenauer (D) sent the final version of the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Becerra asking for more transparency in the review.

There is no doubt that cannabis scheduling will be a burning topic among many other issues at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami (April 11-12) where top CEOs, investors, leaders, advocates and politicians will share their thoughts, ideas and experiences.

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