(Reuters) -A senior Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing a letter.
In the letter addressed to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) administrator Anne Milgram, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine asked for marijuana to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, according to the report.
Marijuana is currently classified as a so-called Schedule I drug, meaning its possession is almost entirely banned except for certain research purposes. The classification is the same as that of heroin used for drugs deemed to have no legitimate medical uses.
The HHS and the DEA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for a comment.
Shares of several cannabis firms including Canopy Growth, Tilray Brands and Cronos Group jumped after the report.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
