Pubdate: Fri, 12 Aug 2016
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press

US GOVERNMENT WON'T RECLASSIFY MARIJUANA, ALLOWS RESEARCH

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration has decided marijuana will 
remain on the list of most-dangerous drugs, fully rebuffing growing 
support across the country for broad legalization, but said it will 
allow more research into its medical uses.

The decision to expand research into marijuana's medical potential 
could pave the way for the drug to be moved to a lesser category. 
Heroin, peyote and marijuana, among others, are considered Schedule I 
drugs because they have no medical application; cocaine and opiates, 
for example, have medical uses and, while still illegal for 
recreational use, are designated Schedule II drugs.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the agency's decision came 
after a lengthy review and consultation with the Health and Human 
Services Department, which said marijuana "has a high potential for 
abuse" and "no accepted medical use." The decision means that it will 
remain illegal for any purpose under federal law, despite laws in 
Massachusetts, 24 other states, and District of Columbia that have 
legalized it for either medicinal or recreational use.

Advocates have long pushed for the federal government to follow suit.

"If the scientific understanding about marijuana changes - and it 
could change - then the decision could change," DEA acting 
administrator Chuck Rosenberg wrote in a letter to the governors of 
Rhode Island and Washington, who sought the review of marijuana's 
classification in 2011.

"But we will remain tethered to science, as we must, and as the 
statute demands. It certainly would be odd to rely on science when it 
suits us and ignore it otherwise."

Rosenberg said designating marijuana as a Schedule I drug does not 
necessarily mean it is as dangerous as other drugs.

"It is best not to think of drug scheduling as an escalating 'danger' 
scale - rather, specific statutory criteria (based on medical and 
scientific evidence) determine into which schedule a substance is 
placed," Rosenberg wrote.

The Food and Drug Administration said agency officials reviewed more 
than 500 studies on the use of medical marijuana, identifying only 11 
that met the agency standards for "legitimate testing." For various 
reasons, none of the trials demonstrated "an accepted medical use," 
the agency concluded.

The FDA last evaluated marijuana for medical use in 2006 and said in 
its latest review the available research "has progressed," but does 
not meet federal standards of safety or effectiveness.

While the DEA won't reclassify marijuana, the agency did announce 
plans to make it easier for researchers to study its possible medical 
benefits by expanding the number of entities that can legally grow 
marijuana for research purposes.

Currently, only researchers at the University of Mississippi are 
allowed to grow marijuana, as part of a contract with the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse.

"While I haven't read it, the outcome is totally out of touch with 
the Justice Department, research, the medical profession, patients 
and the public," said former Washington governor Christine Gregoire, 
who requested the review. "This is very disappointing."

Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the DEA's decision "is 
keeping federal laws behind the times."

"The DEA's decision flies in the face of choices made freely by 
voters in Oregon and many other states about the legality of 
marijuana," he said.

Oregon legalized the drug last year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom