Legal Process to Reschedule Marijuana (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Nov. 2, 2015 |
| Report Number |
LS_2015-11-02_01 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Annie L. Mach |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Amid the flurry of state legislative activity on marijuana in recent years, congressional action has, by comparison, remained relatively modest. Proposals have been introduced at the federal level to remove legal restrictions on the burgeoning marijuana industry, encourage marijuana research, or even to revise the drug's legal status, but Congress has not enacted any substantive amendments to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)--the primary federal law prohibiting the possession, cultivation, or distribution of marijuana. Instead, Congress has chosen to influence marijuana policy through a handful of funding restrictions. For example, Congress has approved language that would prohibit the Department of Justice from using funds to 'prevent' medical marijuana states from 'implementing' their laws. The focus of most proposed federal legislation has generally been on 'rescheduling' marijuana from its current position in the CSA as a heavily restricted 'Schedule I' controlled substance with 'no accepted medical use', to a lower, less restrictive schedule that potentially reflects what a majority of states view as the drug's currently accepted medical use. Once removed from Schedule I, it is argued that marijuana could then be more easily researched and eventually prescribed and dispensed.
