Medical
marijuana advocates are hoping an impending court case will force the
government to re-evaluate the potential upsides of cannabis use.
Under
the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government currently
classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it carries a high risk
of abuse and no proven medical value. The classification puts cannabis
on par with substances like heroin and MDMA, or ecstasy.
Advocates argue that equating marijuana with dangerous drugs like
heroin is ludicrous. The categorization means doctors are prohibited
from prescribing marijuana, and makes conducting research on the
potential medical benefits of cannabis prohibitively difficult.
The
issue is set to come before the United States Court of Appeals for the
first time in almost two decades, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit scheduled to hear oral arguments in Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration on Oct. 16.
Americans
for Safe Access, an organization that advocates for medical marijuana,
first filed a petition more than a decade ago. In that time, Executive
Director Steph Sherer said, the government
