A key congressional panel has raised concerns about the Biden administration's recommendation to reclassify cannabis under federal law, calling for a formal investigation into the review process that led to the proposed rescheduling. The directive comes from a report tied to the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, recently advanced by a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
According to Marijuana Moment, the committee is directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General to produce a report scrutinizing the FDA's 2023 review that recommended cannabis be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The current Schedule I status classifies cannabis as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse—putting it in the same category as heroin. Schedule III includes drugs like Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids.
The FDA review was the basis for HHS's formal recommendation in August 2023, which urged the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to make the change. However, the rescheduling process has since stalled at the DEA, in part due to an ongoing legal challenge by parties advocating for cannabis reform.
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