Right now, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug by our federal government. A Schedule I drug is defined as ‘a drug that has a high potential for abuse, the drug has no currently accepted medical use, and there is a lack of of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision’. […]
Right now, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug by our federal government. A Schedule I drug is defined as ‘a drug that has a high potential for abuse, the drug has no currently accepted medical use, and there is a lack of of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision’.
In my eyes these three things do not describe the current climate of marijuana.
Firstly, the US currently has 22 states that have some type of law passed in regards to the legalization of medical marijuana. On that note, the FDA is getting ready to reconsider their position on medical marijuana.
Here are the eight factors the FDA will consider about marijuana when deciding which schedule it should go under, according to the Controlled Substances Act:
1. Its actual or relative potential for abuse
2. Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known
3. The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug or other substance
4. Its history and current pattern of abuse
5. The scope, duration, and significance of abuse
6. What, if any, risk there is to the public health
7. Its psychic or physiological dependence liability
8. Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this subchapter
Now secondly, this is not the first time the FDA has been asked to reevaluate it’s stance on marijuana. But, in the past they cited that the reason behind them keeping marijuana where it is is the fact that there hasn’t been a ton of scientific research done on the effectiveness of medical marijuana. The laughable part with this one is the reason there is so little research being done because of an almost complete lock down of cannabis science by the government. There is currently only one legal marijuana field used for research in the United States and that’s at the University of Mississippi.
Just a little more than a year ago the Federal Appeals Court denied the pleas of medical marijuana groups that were asking to downgrade marijuana’s classification. This review will be a huge step forward according to advocates. It definitely appears that the national direction of marijuana is helping shift the thoughts of the FDA. All we can do now is hope that will a little more scientific evidence we’ll reach 50 states where medicinal marijuana is legal and regulated.
Header image courtesy of The Huffington Post
Source: The Huffington Post