In the United States, marijuana is illegal under federal law, which covers even states that legalize it. Under the scheduling system of the federal government, it’s a schedule 1 drug, meaning it’s deemed to have no medical value but with a high potential for abuse. Marijuana is in the same category as heroin and in a more restrictive classification than schedule 2 drugs such as cocaine.
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For nearly a century, there are different lines of reasoning used to argue for the criminalization of marijuana across the U.S., including the following. First, it’s perceived as addictive. Second, it is considered to have no medicinal use, and third, it has been historically linked with narcotics including heroin.
The 1906 Federal Food and Drug Act set the stage for the series of legislative acts on the substance – it didn’t actually restrict marijuana but instead expanded the federal government’s power regarding drugs. After three years, the Congress passed the Opium Exclusion Act. Twenty years later, the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration was formed. In 1930, its name was shortened to the FDA.
While many calls have been made to reschedule marijuana, there are serious hurdles along the way, mainly that there have been no large-scale clinical trials on the substance, which are traditionally needed to prove medical value to the federal government. It should be noted, however, that these clinical studies are much more difficult to undertake when a substance is strictly regulated as a schedule 1 drug.
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The barriers are in place to using marijuana medicinally with freedom, but debates around the marijuana policy rage on and are likely to continue doing so.
Adam Quirk is a private investigator who has had 15 years of experience working for both the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For more on Adam, visit this page.
