On Monday, the Biden administration’s senior health official shared a link to a story on Marijuana Moment that outlines the president’s recent administrative cannabis scheduling directive.
The link was posted by U.S. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at 4:20 p.m. ET, marking the second time in his tenure that he has shared news related to marijuana policy at that symbolic time.
There has been no shortage of tweets from federal authorities about cannabis policy, and they usually don’t deserve separate treatment. A scheduled study of marijuana is underway, however, this figure leads a top department, and the 4:20 time of the tweet did not go ignored.
Most readers will realize that references to cannabis culture in the forms of 4:20, 4/20, and 420 are not lost on them. It’s possible that Becerra’s government Twitter account just happened to tweet some news on marijuana at that moment, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened.
To meet the administrative obligation, the secretary tweeted at 4:20 pm ET on the same day that President Joe Biden originally announced his scheduling review that he was looking forward to working with the U.S. attorney general.
Of course, officials rarely tweet their own content from these government accounts, so it’s reasonable to assume that a sly employee is behind the scenes scheduling the posts.
Marijuana Moment tried to reach out to HHS for comment, but a spokesperson was unavailable at the time of publication.
In a follow-up tweet with a link to the report, Becerra added, “At the direction of @POTUS, we’re continuing to evaluate how marijuana is scheduled.” What we do is based on our analysis of the available data.
The president’s directive to do a schedule review was given in early October, and he has been saying basically the same thing since then. Moreover, Biden issued a blanket pardon for all anyone convicted of federal marijuana possession convictions and urged state governors to do the same.
At the direction of @POTUS, we’re continuing to examine how marijuana is scheduled. We’re looking at what the evidence tells us – and that will guide what we do. https://t.co/KrGPLfXjff
— Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) December 5, 2022
At a recent overdose prevention event, Becerra, who has a long history of supporting cannabis reform as both a congressman and California’s attorney general, said, “We’re going to take a look at what science tells us and what the evidence tells us.” This will serve as a guide for us, and we hope it will serve the same purpose for the federal government.
According to the secretary, the department will “act as swiftly as we can” to complete the scientific study in response to the president’s announcement of cannabis pardons and scheduling. He has already had a conversation with the FDA commissioner about this matter.
The White House drug czar has also recently commented on the president’s action, calling it “historic,” and stating that there are “obviously” medical benefits of cannabis.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also pledged to move swiftly to complete the president’s independent scheduling review, which may lead to a recommendation to shift cannabis to lower scheduling or remove it entirely, thereby legalizing the plant at the federal level.
In a separate development, Biden just applauded the governor of Oregon for pardoning thousands of marijuana convictions this week. Also, he recommends that other states “take a page out of Oregon’s book.”
A marijuana research bill was also signed into law by the president last week, marking the first time in American history that a single piece of federal cannabis reform legislation had been passed on its own. On Monday, the Biden administration’s senior health official shared a link to a story on Marijuana Moment that outlines the president’s recent administrative cannabis scheduling directive.
Looking forward to working with Attorney General Garland to answer @POTUS’ call to action to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. https://t.co/aXMcWCjJh2
— Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) October 6, 2022
The link was posted by U.S. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at 4:20 p.m. ET, marking the second time in his tenure that he has shared news related to marijuana policy at that symbolic time.
There has been no shortage of tweets from federal authorities about cannabis policy, and they usually don’t deserve separate treatment. A scheduled study of marijuana is underway, however, this figure leads a top department, and the 4:20 time of the tweet did not go ignored.
Most readers will realize that references to cannabis culture in the forms of 4:20, 4/20, and 420 are not lost on them. It’s possible that Becerra’s government Twitter account just happened to tweet some news on marijuana at that moment, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened.
To meet the administrative obligation, the secretary tweeted at 4:20 pm ET on the same day that President Joe Biden originally announced his scheduling review that he was looking forward to working with the U.S. attorney general. Of course, officials rarely tweet their own content from these government accounts, so it’s reasonable to assume that a sly employee is behind the scenes scheduling the posts.
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Marijuana Moment tried to reach out to HHS for comment, but a spokesperson was unavailable at the time of publication. In a follow-up tweet with a link to the report, Becerra added, “At the direction of @POTUS, we’re continuing to evaluate how marijuana is scheduled.” What we do is based on our analysis of the available data.
The president’s directive to do a schedule review was given in early October, and he has been saying basically the same thing since then. Moreover, Biden issued a blanket pardon for all anyone convicted of federal marijuana possession convictions and urged state governors to do the same.
At a recent overdose prevention event, Becerra, who has a long history of supporting cannabis reform as both a congressman and California’s attorney general, said, “We’re going to take a look at what science tells us and what the evidence tells us.” This will serve as a guide for us, and we hope it will serve the same purpose for the federal government.
According to the secretary, the department will “act as swiftly as we can” to complete the scientific study in response to the president’s announcement of cannabis pardons and scheduling. He has already had a conversation with the FDA commissioner about this matter.
The White House drug czar has also recently commented on the president’s action, calling it “historic,” and stating that there are “obviously” medical benefits of cannabis.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also pledged to move swiftly to complete the president’s independent scheduling review, which may lead to a recommendation to shift cannabis to lower scheduling or remove it entirely, thereby legalizing the plant at the federal level.
In a separate development, Biden just applauded the governor of Oregon for pardoning thousands of marijuana convictions this week. Also, he recommends that other states “take a page out of Oregon’s book.” A marijuana research bill was also signed into law by the president last week, marking the first time in American history that a single piece of federal cannabis reform legislation had been passed on its own.
Results from a number of polls reveal that the majority of Americans approve of the president’s pardon and do not believe that marijuana should be categorized as a Schedule I substance at the federal level.
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While advocates had hoped to see progress on a massive defense bill with marijuana reform provisions attached, House lawmakers on Monday delayed committee consideration of the bill due to disagreements on several key issues. Further, the DOJ was briefed by representatives from the offices of numerous Republican senators who expressed reservations about proposed changes to banking regulations for the cannabis industry.
While advocates had hoped to see progress on a massive defense bill with marijuana reform provisions attached, House lawmakers on Monday delayed committee consideration of the bill due to disagreements on several key issues. Further, the DOJ was briefed by representatives from the offices of numerous Republican senators who expressed reservations about proposed changes to banking regulations for the cannabis industry.
