U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today led his Foreign Relations Committee colleagues, Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID) and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), in a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram highlighting concerns over HHS’s recommendation to reschedule marijuana from a schedule I to schedule III-controlled substance. Specifically, they argued that efforts to reschedule marijuana should be driven by facts, not the administration’s favored policy, and questioned whether doing so would violate the Controlled Substances Act and U.S. treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
“As members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, we write to underscore the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) duty under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to ensure compliance with the United States’ treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (Single Convention),” the senators wrote. “Any effort to reschedule marijuana must be based on proven facts and scientific evidence—not the favored policy of a particular administration—and account for our treaty obligations.”
“In prior rescheduling proceedings, the DEA has determined that section 811(d) requires it to classify marijuana as a schedule I or II drug in order to comply with our treaty obligations under the Single Convention,” the senators continued. “It is important that the DEA continues to follow the law and abide by our treaty commitments.”
The full text of the letter can be read here.
