DEA Rejects Marijuana Rescheduling but Eliminates a Research Barrier

Jacob SullumToday the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to reject two petitions asking it to reclassify marijuana while agreeing to loosen restrictions on the supply of marijuana for medical research. Although the drug's legal status will remain the same, the DEA's willingness to allow competition among marijuana suppliers should facilitate research by removing a bureaucratic bottleneck and improving the quality and variety of cannabis available to scientists investigating the plant's medical benefits.

The Washington Post reports that the DEA, despite much speculation to the contrary, is sticking to its longstanding position that marijuana belongs in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a category supposedly reserved for drugs with "a high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use," drugs so dangerous that they cannot be used safely even under a doctor's supervision. It is doubtful that marijuana meets any of those criteria,...

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