A group of patient and advocacy groups filed a suit on May 23rd to the U.S Court for the District of Columbia Circuit to force the Obama Administration to formally respond to a petition filed by California NORML in 2003. The petition would force the federal government to consider rescheduling marijuana based on new medical evidence. Currently marijuana is a schedule 1 drug which means that it has no accepted medical use, and high potential for abuse.This might seems strange considering there are already 16 states with medical marijuana laws that attempt to protect patients and caregivers to a certain degree.
The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis argues that the Obama Administration is violating the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act which requires action a reasonable period of time. 9 years for a response is obviously on the fringe of being an unreasonable amount of time, even for the federal government.
John Gettman, the coordinator for the CRC stated, “Marijuana has accepted medical use in the United States, it has a lower abuse potential than drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, and it is safe for use under medical supervision. All of these characteristics are well-documented scientifically and legally. Federal law requires the Obama Administration to reclassify marijuana.”
This is in no terms a new appeal to the federal government. In 1988 Judge Francis L. Young, a DEA Administrative Law Judge ruled that marijuana is incorrectly classified and even stated, “Based upon the facts established in this record and set out above, one must reasonably conclude that there is accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision…To conclude otherwise, on this record, would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious….”
The DEA rejected this decision and the ensuing battle between reformers and the the DEA has continued until now. The DEA has a vested financial interest in keeping marijuana a schedule 1 drug. If cannabis became regulated to any degree there would be major cut backs in funding because of the medical systems that would be established in individual states which would transfer cannabis funding from Justice and criminal departments to State Health Departments.
This new appeal is a great step in the right direction but when you are battling a multi-billion dollar agency like the DEA; any appeal that involves rescheduling a drug that has financial and ideological backing by federal workers will be met with ferocious opposition.
The Weed Street Journal
