Dangers of Rescheduling Marijuana: Expert Witnesses Warn DEA About Psychosis, Pediatric Harm, and Failed ScienceDangers of Rescheduling Marijuana: Expert Witnesses Warn DEA About Psychosis, Pediatric Harm, and Failed Science
The Addiction Podcast - Point of No Return
Three physicians share evidence and frontline stories as they explain why they warned the DEA against moving marijuana to Schedule III. The discussion centres on psychosis, harm to children, and the lack of accepted medical use for raw cannabis.
25:23•17 Sept 2026
Why Experts Warn the DEA Against Making Marijuana “Safer”
Episode Overview
- Raw cannabis has no FDA‑approved medical indication despite thousands of federally funded studies and billions in research spending.
- Rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III is argued to falsely signal safety and medical legitimacy to the public, including children.
- Clinical experience and medical literature discussed in the episode suggest cannabis is unreliable as a pain treatment or opioid substitute.
- Doctors report rising cases of paediatric cannabis exposure, psychosis, and cannabis hyperemesis, with serious health and financial impacts.
- Adolescent treatment beds are scarce, leaving many young people with cannabis‑related mental health crises waiting weeks in emergency departments.
“As a Schedule I substance, I've never seen any drug that's been studied more than marijuana, and yet we still have no FDA‑approved indication.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation takes a sharp turn into the heated debate over rescheduling marijuana, with three experienced physicians laying out why they warned the DEA against moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. You’ll hear Dr Philip Drum break down the Controlled Substances Act in plain language, explaining how drugs are placed from Schedule I to V based on abuse potential, dependence, and whether they have an accepted medical use.
He points out that raw cannabis has "zero FDA‑approved indications" despite more than 9,500 government‑funded studies and $4.2 billion in research spending. His core message? The claim that marijuana must be rescheduled to be studied "is completely false". Pain specialist Dr Ken Finn adds his clinical experience from decades in Colorado, where patients insisted cannabis helped their pain, but "almost all of my patients said, I don't want that.
The opioids work for my pain, and the marijuana really doesn't." He challenges the popular idea that marijuana is a reliable pain treatment or opioid substitute, saying medical literature simply doesn’t back it up. Emergency and paediatric doctor Dr Karen Randall brings some of the most sobering stories. She describes children arriving at A&E with cannabis intoxication, psychosis, and cannabis hyperemesis – severe, ongoing vomiting that can lead to life‑threatening complications.
One case of a 13‑year‑old girl trading sex for cannabis after starting use at age 11 starkly shows how "more is not always better", especially for developing brains. With host Joanie Sigal asking clear, grounded questions, the episode speaks directly to parents, people in recovery, and anyone wondering whether marijuana is as harmless as it’s often portrayed.
It’s a tough listen at times, but it may leave you asking: how safe is cannabis really, and who pays the price when the risks are downplayed?
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