Federally, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy; those are considered the most unsafe and addictive and are believed to have no medicinal value.
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The DEA lists marijuana as a “Schedule I” drug.
But as it has in previous reviews, marijuana again failed an analysis conducted by the FDA and NIDA.
“There is no evidence that there is a consensus among qualified experts that marijuana is safe and effective for use in treating a specific, recognized disorder”, the report added.
Assessing the impact of reclassifying or declassifying marijuana on Pennsylvania’s new medical marijuana law is complicated, particularly since some provisions of the law are likely to be tweaked before it’s rolled out.
The decision signals a hard road ahead for legalization efforts, said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former Obama administration drug advisor.
The term medical marijuana refers to using the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat a disease or symptom.
The DEA says there is “no substantial evidence” that marijuana should be removed from its classification.
Marijuana has a high potential for abuse.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced this week that it will lift restrictions on cannabis research as soon as August 11, 2016.
A schedule I classification bans doctors from prescribing it and limits all but the most carefully controlled research. This keeps the drug in the same category as heroin, LSD and Ecstasy.
Research has shown that pot has a multitude of medical benefits.
While the DEA will not legalize marijuana, the agency did announce a major policy change that may lead to an increase in marijuana research. Drug policy has been one area in which the Obama administration has been disappointingly conservative, although it has at least established a policy of nonintervention in states where marijuana and/or medical marijuana have been legalized. But he said prescribers need not fear that the announcement signals a federal crackdown. The DEA said this “will allow additional entities to apply to become registered with DEA so that they may grow and distribute marijuana for FDA-authorized research”. Today, only one university can grow cannabis for research use. That would allow a greater supply and a wider variety of products for research.
Would-be growers will have to file applications with the DEA.
Doblin’s group has been fighting to break the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s monopoly on study-grade marijuana for the past 20 years.
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For more on drug scheduling, visit the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Industrial hemp is made up of a low-concentration THC variety of the cannabis plant, meant to be used for industrial purposes.
