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Feds still believe marijuana is as unsafe as heroin

Schedule I is reserved for substances that have “no now accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”, the DEA notes.

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The decision upholds the classification of marijuana as one of the most risky drugs as defined by Congress and President Richard Nixon in the Controlled Substances Act 46 years ago.

“This shows that the federal government is flexible on legitimate research but is nowhere near wanting to legalize marijuana”, said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

DEA has denied two petitions to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Here’s how the DEA explained its decision.

“The FDA drug approval process for evaluating potential medicines has worked effectively in this country for more than 50 years”, he writes.

Most Americans support legalization, Angell wrote, and the federal government should at a minimum leave regulatory decisions to the states. While not the news we were hoping for, it will remove a major hurdle allowing scientific studies to better understand the benefits and risks of cannabis.

Now, the DEA said it will allow more universities to grow cannabis for use in research.

Currently, only the University of MS holds an exclusive contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and is federally licensed to grow marijuana for research purposes. As of April 4, 2016, it had 185 batches of marijuana, according to a DEA letter to members of Congress. But on Wednesday, the agency has indeed sent emails to various interested parties, saying it would make “important announcements on topics related to marijuana”. NIDA also failed to achieve the phenotype and potency requested, she said. “It’s outrageous that federal policy has blocked science for so long”.

According to the Washington Post, the agency’s decision to keep marijuana Schedule I is due in part to the FDA, who recently concluded that there still isn’t enough scientific data to prove the drug is safe for medical use. Marijuana is now a Schedule I drug, meaning the DEA considers it a drug “with no now accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”. Schedule 2 drugs, such as the powerful narcotic painkillers that have caused an epidemic of addiction over the past decade, have medicinal value but “a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence”.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (2ndL) speaks about medical Marijuana and how it could possibly help four-year-old Morgan Hintz (R) who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, as U.S. Sen.

Substances that do not meet these criteria must, by law, be categorized in less restrictive federal schedules (Schedules II through V) and are legally regulated accordingly.

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The DEA says it reviewed the classification for marijuana after requests from the former governors of Rhode Island and Washington state. Officially the content of that announcement has not been released, but people with knowledge of the matter have said the content of the announcement will be a few significant changes.

Will the DEA Make Marijuana Schedule II and Will It Make Much Difference?