Biden HHS urges marijuana be reclassified as legal drug: report

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services is recommending that marijuana be reranked as a less dangerous and legal Schedule III drug.

Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine issued the recommendation in a letter to Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Anne Milgram, according to Bloomberg News.

For the past five decades, marijuana has been a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1971, which defines the commonly used drug as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical value.

Schedule III substances are deemed to have a moderate or low potential for abuse and dependence.

Federal law allows the attorney general to reschedule marijuana, and President Biden asked for a re-evaluation of pot’s status this past October — weeks ahead of the midterm elections.

Biden says he opposes marijuana legalization, despite roughly two-thirds support for the reform in national polling, but says he favors more modest decriminalization.

Marijuana’s recreational possession and use is allowed under local law in 23 states, three US territories and the District of Columbia.

Even more states allow the drug’s use for medical reasons, though continued federal prohibition means that it technically cannot be prescribed by doctors or easily researched.

Although widely legal under state law, possession of marijuana for any reason outside limited research has remained a federal crime, prompting some banks to refuse to service the quasi-legal industry.

HHS and the DEA did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.