The Rescheduling of Cannabis

The Rescheduling of Cannabis

For many years, marijuana has been outlawed and the laws regarding marijuana have been strictly enforced in the United States of America. Around the world, marijuana has been used not only recreationally, but also medicinally. For many Americans with certain illnesses, marijuana is their medication. The sad thing is that the United States' government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug and won't allow medical research. The Controlled Substance Act is a part of the comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention and Control Act of 1970. Basically, this act classifies all of America's drugs into one of five schedules, where Schedule I classifies the most restricted and most dangerous of all drugs. The Controlled Substance Act authorizes procedures for the reclassification of Schedule I drugs. I disagree and am opposed to the way this Schedule restricts marijuana so strictly, and I feel that the scheduling of marijuana should be reconsidered based on the fact that marijuana does not have the high dependency or high potential for abuse which is the basis of Schedule I drugs.

The way that our government classifies and restricts drugs in the U.S. is by using a Schedule that has five classifications of drugs. A Schedule I status is defined as a classification of drugs that are highly addictive, have a high potential for abuse, have a high dependence liability, and serve for no medical use. Drugs such as crystal meth,

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cocaine, heroin and cannabis are examples of Schedule I drugs. I feel that cannabis belongs no where near the Schedule I status that it is at and should be rescheduled to a less restrictive classification. By definition, Schedule I status drugs require a high potential for abuse. There has never been any kind of study that supports the idea that marijuana has a high risk of dependency or abuse. And we all know that cannabis has been used in certain states to treat illnesses such as Glaucoma, Anorexia, mood disorders, and nausea created by chemotherapy. So my question still stands, why is cannabis classified in this Schedule status? In my opinion, this petition filed by the Coalition for the Rescheduling of Cannabis, challenges our government to produce findings such as high levels of abuse or highly addictive properties in cannabis.

In Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts, I read about controlled