The decision means that pot will remain illegal for any goal under federal law, despite laws in 25 states and District of Columbia that have legalized pot for either medicinal or recreational use. Collins said he considered the DEA’s decision to be one that puts “politics above science”.
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As for State Police, enforcement of the drug remains the same.
Currently, only the University of MS, which holds an exclusive contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is federally licensed to grow marijuana for research purposes.
Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project, called the DEA’s decision “mind-boggling”.
Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat, has long advocated for federal legalization of marijuana.
But as it has in previous reviews, marijuana again failed an analysis conducted by the FDA and National Institute on Drug Abuse. Legally, that prohibits the DEA from reclassifying the drug.
While 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical and/or recreational uses, the plant is illegal on the federal level.
The report cites reasons for the organization’s decision to reject petitions from marijuana advocates seeking change, saying marijuana has no “currently accepted medical use” and lack of well-controlled studies proving how effective it can be for medical purposes’. There is just pot, and many patients say it makes them feel better.
“Research is the bedrock of science”, he wrote, “and we will – as we have for many years – support and promote legitimate research regarding marijuana and its constituent parts”.
The DEA says there is “no substantial evidence” that marijuana should be removed from its classification.
The DEA concluded it could not downgrade marijuana from a Schedule I classification, considered the most risky class of drugs. Drugs like heroin are in the same Schedule 1 category.
Such research could result in medications derived from marijuana that would treat conditions without a “high”, Wergin said.
Wyden said fewer research restrictions on marijuana could help the DEA to change it’s policy in the future.
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But the DEA concluded that, rather than “rescheduling” the drug, “scientifically valid and well-controlled clinical trials conducted under investigational new drug (IND) applications are the most appropriate way to conduct” the research. Heroin, LSD and ecstasy stand alongside marijuana on the DEA’s Schedule I list.
