 While California, and several other states have approved marijuana as a treatment for a range of illnesses, the federal government announced Friday (July 8) has denied petition to reclassify the drug, claiming it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin, reports the L.A. Times.
Nearly nine years ago, the U.S. government was asked by marijuana supporters to reclassify cannabis, taking into account worldwide research that shows its effectiveness in treating certain diseases, such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.
Finally a ruling has been given, with the Obama administration announcing that it would not tolerate large-scale commercial marijuana cultivation.
While advocates for the medical use criticized the ruling, they were happy that that the Obama administration has finally acted, so they are allowed to appeal to the decision in federal courts and move forward
The decision to deny the request was made by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and comes less than two months after advocates asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to force the administration to respond to their petition.
"We have foiled the government's strategy of delay, and we can now go head-to-head on the merits," Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access and the lead attorney on the lawsuit, told the paper.
This is the third time that petitions to reclassify marijuana have been denied. The first was filed in 1972 and denied 17 years later; and the second was filed in 1995 and denied six years later. Both decisions were appealed, but the courts sided with the federal government.
Now, this will be their third go.
The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis filed its petition in October 2002. In 2004, the DEA asked the Department of Health and Human Services to review the science. The department recommended in 2006 that marijuana remain classified as a dangerous drug. Four and a half years then elapsed before the current administration issued a final denial.
Last week, the DEA concluded that marijuana has no accepted medical use. DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said, in a June 21 letter to the organizations that filed the petition, that the request was rejected because marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States".
She also wrote that marijuana's chemistry is not known and adequate studies have not been done on its usefulness or safety.
"At this time," she said, "the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy."
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