U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who has said that cannabis should be rescheduled in order to be studied and treated like other pain relief drugs, went one step further. He called for cannabis to be reclassified and removed from its status as a Schedule 1 drug, thus making it easier to study and fully understand.
Dr. Adams also called for reform of both health and criminal justice policies related to medical marijuana.
“Just as we need to look at criminal justice laws, rules and regulations, we need to look at health laws, rules and regulations, and that includes the scheduling system,” Adams said during a conference on drug recovery. “I’ll take it somewhere else, marijuana. We need to look at the way we schedule different medications across the board, because one of the concerns that I have with marijuana is the difficulty that the folks have to do research on it, because of the scheduling system.”
The Surgeon General’s public comments come alongside a congressional report released this week entitled, “The National Cannabis Economy,” which highlights the economic benefits of legalized cannabis at the state and national levels. Information in the noted that the cannabis industry could earn around $11 billion this year and up to $23 billion by 2022, even without full national legalization in the country.
As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General provides Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.
Many experts in the cannabis industry find Dr. Adams’ views and remarks on cannabis to be valuable and laud his position.
“The relevance of the Surgeon General’s call to reschedule cannabis cannot be understated,” said Dr. Mark Rosenfeld, CEO of ANANDA Scientific as reported by Forbes. “The chemistry found only in cannabis plants can provide relief across an incredible array of adverse health states. It does this with minimal side effects and with the prospect of being eminently cost-effective in its use.”
