This might be the big one for medical
marijuana and marijuana legalization advocates. The U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has agreed to hear Americans for Safe
Access vs. Drug Enforcement Administration, which challenges the federal classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
The
Schedule I classification is one of the biggest arguments against
medical marijuana nationwide because Schedule I drugs are defined as
having no accepted medical use. Marijuana, heroin, ecstasy, LSD and GHB
(the so-called date rape drug) are all classified as Schedule I
substances. Marijuana was placed in that classification of the
Controlled Substances Act in 1970 on the advice of Assistant Secretary
of Health Roger O. Egeberg. In 1972, President Nixon’s National
Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse reported "there is little proven
danger of physical or psychological harm from the experimental or
intermittent use of the natural preparations of cannabis," but it didn’t
make any difference. Ignoring the wisdom of his commission, Nixon kept
pot on Schedule I and created the War on Drugs to get at political
opponents and bolster his stance as the law-and-order guy.
Now
the government is going to have to prove in court that marijuana
deserves to be a Schedule I drug. Oral arguments are scheduled to start
Oct. 16.
This appeal stems from a 2002
petition by the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis
