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Judge upholds Schedule I classification of cannabis

Posted on April 16th, 2015 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

THCUS District Judge Kimberly Mueller in Sacramento—who made history by granting the first extended hearings in federal court on the question of cannabis' continued listing under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act—on April 15 closed the hearings by ruling that the plant's Schedule I status is constitutional. "At some point in time," said Judge Mueller in issuing her decision in US v. Schweder et al, "a court may decide this status to be unconstitutional. But this is not the court and not the time." The Obama appointee decided to rule on the merits of the case, disregarding the insistence of federal prosecutors that she dismiss the motion for lack of standing by the defendants. For her standard of review, she applied the "rational basis test" to the defendants' challenge to cannabis' Schedule I status under the Equal Protection Clause. Under that standard, said Judge Mueller, "the statute passes muster. The questions raised by the defense are for Congress to resolve." Defendants say they will appeal to the Ninth Circuit. (The Leaf Online, Courthouse News Service, April 15)

Graphic: Lycaeum

 

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Clinton would reschedule cannabis

Bill Weinberg's picture  On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton actually embraced proposals to have cannabis changed from Schedule I to Schedule II. But in a commentary for High Times, NORML's Paul Armentano argues that cannabis should be removed from the schedule system established by the Controlled Substances Act altogether...
Comment by Bill Weinberg on Mar 9th, 2016 at 2:40 am

Cannabis reschedule in 2016?

Global Ganja Report's picture In response to a letter submitted last year by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and seven other lawmakers calling for the federal government to loosen some of the restrictions that continue to make it difficult to study the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant, the DEA has revealed that it will make a decision on whether to reschedule marijuana before the end of summer 2016. “DEA understands the widespread interest in the prompt resolution to these petitions and hopes to release its determination in the first half of 2016,” the 25-page document reads. Although the DEA’s letter, which is signed by acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, does not suggest the inevitability of a Schedule downgrade, there is now more pressure than ever before for the agency to deliver a favorable result on the issue. (HT)

However, the White House said any action on the matter would have to come from Congress. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) called the White House response "disappointing." (WP)

Just days earlier, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.) convened a hearing of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control to investigate whether the Justice Department has been derelict in its enforcement duties on marijuana.  Grassley charged: "The Department of Justice decided to all but abandon the enforcement of federal law relating to the possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana." (WP)
Comment by Global Ganja Report on Apr 6th, 2016 at 7:38 pm

Bernie Sanders: pot 'should not be a federal crime'

Global Ganja Report's picture While Bernie Sanders has not quite called for cannabis legalization, he has expressed enthusiastic support for decriminalizing it and removing it from the DEA's list of dangerous substances—while allowing states to pursue legalization if they wish. "We can argue about the science and the pluses and minuses about marijuana, but everybody knows marijuana is not a killer drug like heroin," he said at a rally in Wisconsin. "It should not be a federal crime." (Slant)
Comment by Global Ganja Report on Apr 6th, 2016 at 7:42 pm

White House "bud summit"?

Bill Weinberg's picture Members of the DC Cannabis Campaign (DCMJ), the organization responsible for staging a highly publicized White House smoke-in at the beginning of April, afterwards received an invitation from the Obama administration to attend a meeting to discuss the marijuana movement in the United States. (HT) But it was a bit anti-climactic when they "found themselves in a conference room in a totally different building separate from the White House, talking to some junior-level staff members of President Obama's Office of National Drug Control Policy." (Marijuana Times)
Comment by Bill Weinberg on Jul 5th, 2016 at 1:31 am

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