A medical marijuana
advocate urged a federal appeals court to require the U.S. government
to relax, or at least rethink, a more-than-40-year-old rule that treats
marijuana as a highly dangerous drug with no medical value.
Federal
drug regulators "have failed to weigh the evidence" from a growing
number of medical studies showing that marijuana is effective for
relieving pain and nausea, said Joe Elford, counsel for Americans for
Safe Access.
In his legal brief, he said the Drug Enforcement
Administration displayed a "bias" against marijuana by ignoring its
medical benefits and exaggerating its danger. That is the only way to
explain how the "federal government could conclude that marijuana is as
harmful as heroin and PCP and even more harmful than methamphetamine, cocaine and opium," he told the court.
Elford was challenging the
DEA’s insistence that marijuana is properly classified as a Schedule I
drug, meaning it has no accepted medical benefits and has a high
potential for abuse. This classification means, for example, that
doctors at the Veterans Administration may not give marijuana to a
disabled veteran to treat his chronic pain, he said, citing the plight
of one of the plaintiffs in the case. If marijuana were reclassified,
Elford said, it would help doctors and patients by permitting its use
under medical supervision.
Marijuana’s classification as a
Schedule I drug dates to 1970, when Congress passed the Controlled
Substances Act. On two occasions since then, marijuana advocates have
petitioned the DEA to reconsider the classification, citing the medical
benefits of cannabis. They also noted that 16 states and the District of
Columbia have opted to allow medical use of marijuana in some
instances.
But the DEA turned down the most recent petition last
year and made no change in the classification schedule. By way of
explanation, the agency said there was not a scientific consensus on the
medical benefits of marijuana. It also said marijuana has many
"chemical components" that are not well understood.
During Tuesday’s argument, a Justice Department
lawyer said the government remained convinced of the danger of
marijuana. "It’s the most widely abused drug in the United States," said
Lena Watkins, the government lawyer.
The case was heard by a
veteran panel of three judges who questioned whether they were in a
position to reject the DEA’s determination.
"Don’t we have to
defer to their judgment" on what the medical studies show? asked Judge
Merrick Garland. "We’re not scientists. They are."
"The real
question is to what extent we have to defer to the agency," added Judge
Harry Edwards. The two judges said they could not overturn the DEA’s
decision unless they found it to be "arbitrary and capricious."
Elford
responded that the judges should send the case back to the DEA to
require the agency to hold a hearing to consider research over the last
decade on the benefits of marijuana.
Judge Karen Henderson, the
third member of the panel, noted that changing the classification of
marijuana would not decriminalize it. "It would still be illegal," she
said.
