April 2024 Newsletter
Prepared by Van Scoyoc Associates 

Senate Finance Subcommittee Holds Roundtable on Substance Use
On April 9, the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Health held a roundtable on “Closing Gaps in the Care Continuum: Opportunities to Improve Substance Use Disorder Care in Federal Health Programs.” Read more here.

House and Senate Committees Hold Hearings on FY 25 HHS Budget Request
The week of April 19^th, HHS Secretary Becerra testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee Labor HHS Subcommittee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health on the Administration’s FY25 budget request. Similar to prior hearings, Members raised a variety of pet issues including how the Administration plans to stem the flow of fentanyl into the country. Read more here and here.

Legalized Cannabis is Not Associated with Increased Youth Use
According to a study in JAMA Psychiatry, there is no evidence that legalizing recreational marijuana leads to an increase in youth marijuana use. Read more here.

Lawmakers Send Letter to DEA Encouraging Move to Swiftly Reschedule Marijuana
On April 25, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) led 17 lawmakers in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, expressing their growing frustration that the DEA has not acted to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.  Read more here.

Plan to Ban Menthol Cigarettes Delayed
On April 26 the Biden Administration said they are delaying an FDA plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a move that could effectively kill any chance the rule will be released before the election in November. Read more here.

NIH to Fund Research on Using Psychedelics to Treat Chronic Pain in Older Adults
A new federal funding opportunity from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will use $8.4 million to support clinical trials on the safety and efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat chronic pain in older adults. Read more here.

US Drug Control Agency Will Move to Reclassify Marijuana
On April 30, the AP broke the story that the Biden Administration is rescheduling marijuana. Read more here.