John O. Agwunobi

Who is John O. Agwunobi?

John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH served as the 12th Assistant Secretary for Health from December 17, 2005 to September 4, 2007. During his term as the ASH, he was a serving member of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service, and held the rank of four-star admiral. As the ASH, Dr. Agwunobi served as the Secretary's primary advisor on matters involving the nation's public health. He also oversaw the US Public Health Service and its Commissioned Corps for the Secretary.

Agwunobi was the author of a recommendation against the rescheduling of marijuana, sent from HHS to the DEA in 2006, which stated that marijuana "has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of an accepted level of safety for use under medical supervision."

Agwunobi was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father trained as a medical doctor in Great Britain and then returned to his native Nigeria, so Agwunobi was largely raised in Nigeria. He received his medical training at the University of Jos, where his father was a professor of medicine.

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