Obama Administration Position on Medical Marijuana

The following is the text of an email sent to Drug Free Community Coalitions by the Office of National Drug Control Policy:

As you may already have seen, the Governors of Washington state and Rhode Island recently called for the Federal government to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).  The Governors’ petition to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart cited “[concern] that patients with serious medical conditions who could benefit from medical use of cannabis do not have a safe and consistent source of the drug.”  The Drug Enforcement Administration has received this petition and will review the application following the process set forth under the CSA.
The scheduling and approval process for drugs, including marijuana, must be done on a legal and scientific basis.  The process of scheduling a drug must conform to all aspects of the CSA if the medicine involves a controlled substance.  Just this past June, DEA denied a similar petition to reschedule marijuana, based on scientific and medical evaluation, and scheduling recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  HHS determined that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S., and lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.  DEA’s response to this earlier petition is attached to this email.
It is important to note that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved medicinal use of isolated components of the marijuana plant and related synthetic compounds.  Dronabinol is one such synthetically produced compound, used in the FDA-approved medicine Marinol (a Schedule III drug), which is already legally available for prescription by physicians whose patients suffer from pain and chronic illness.  Another FDA-approved medicine, Cesamet, contains the active ingredient Nabilone (a Schedule II drug), which has a chemical structure similar to THC, the active ingredient of marijuana.  The Administration supports ongoing research that can result in the development of products to effectively treat debilitating diseases and chronic pain.
I would also like to bring to your attention a recent ONDCP letter to the editor that ran in The New York Times last week, which further explains the Administration position on marijuana:  NY Times Letter to the Editor. 
The Administration is committed to ensuring that all Americans have access to the safest, most effective medicines available, while ensuring our communities and citizens can be free from illicit drug abuse and addiction.  We appreciate all that you do to further these goals, and look forward to our continuing partnerships.