The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reclassified Marinol from a "Schedule II" drug to the less restrictive "Schedule III" category according to the Controlled Substances Act.
This essentially means that instead of being classified with drugs like morphine, Marinol is now classified with more widely used drugs like codeine.

Marinol is a registered trade mark of Unimed Pharmaceuticals, containing synthetically manufactured dronabinol (Delta-9-THC), the pharmacologically most relevant and psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.

Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the capsule form of Marinol is the "safe and proper way" to make components of marijuana available to the public. "This action will make Marinol, which is scientifically proven to be safe and effective for medical use, more widely available," he said.

Geoff Sugerman, a medical marijuana advocate in Oregon, said "Here is more proof that the properties in marijuana really do work as medicine." Oregon along with other states last autumn approved the use of marijuana with a doctor's consent, an action McCaffrey has opposed.

Marinol is the only cannabinoid in marijuana that has been developed into a prescription drug. First brought onto the market in 1985, Marinol has been approved to treat anorexia and weight loss associated with AIDS and nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy.

With the change in classification, Marinol can now be prescribed by doctors with the possibility of five prescription refills in six months.The change also lessens recordkeeping requirements and eases distribution restrictions on the drug.

(Sources: AP of 3 July 1999)