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Anthony Bolante / Reuters file
A marijuana starter plant is shown at Canna Pi medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle on Nov. 20.
Advocates of looser federal restrictions on marijuana suffered a significant legal setback Tuesday, as a panel of three judges found that the federal government acted properly in refusing to loosen restrictions on pot.
Pro-marijuana groups and a disabled veteran who said it improves his medical condition asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to put marijuana on a lower tier of federal restrictions. They said the agency was ignoring a growing body of scientific evidence that it has some medical benefits. When the DEA refused, they sued.
But by a 2-1 vote, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Tuesday that the DEA did consider all the available information. "We find nothing in the record that could move us to conclude that the agency failed to prove by substantial evidence that such studies confirming marijuana's medical efficacy do not exist," the majority opinion said.
The ruling comes as a stark contrast to actions by a growing number of states that allow use of marijuana on the recommendation of a doctor. And voters in Colorado and Washington approved ballot measures in November that ease state restrictions against recreational use.
The DEA has long classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the most-restrictive category, finding it "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." The production, sale, and use of marijuana remain illegal under federal law as a result.
Judge Harry Edwards, who wrote Tuesday's opinion, took note of the controversy. "There is a serious debate in the United States over the efficacy of marijuana for medicinal uses," he said.
But the issue for the court, he said, "is not whether marijuana could have some medical benefits." Instead, Edwards said, the court's job was to determine whether the DEA acted within the scope of its authority in declining to reclassify the drug, given claims in the lawsuit that peer-reviewed scientific studies found some evidence that it could be beneficial.
"We defer to the agency's interpretation of these regulations and find that substantial evidence supports its determination" that no studies exist that are "adequate and well-controlled" proving its effectiveness in medical treatments.
The dissenting judge, Karen LeCraft Henderson, expressed no view on whether marijuana has medical benefits. Instead, she said the court should have dismissed the case on the grounds that none of those filing the lawsuit had legal authority to bring the case to court in the first place.
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Well, Seattle Francisco just needs to get this issue into the 9th Circus Court of Appeals, where for decades the judges opinions appear to come from a bench so high that Maui Wowee couldn't make them any wackier.
You get your "high" from marijuana because our bodies have neural receptors that naturally interact with cannabinoids. You get your "high" from alcohol because it starves your brain of oxygen. Which one do you think is better for you?
Any news article that involves a fight or some other form or violence, accident, etc. almost always also mentions the involvement of alcohol. More people are going to die in just the next hour in a directly related alcohol incident than have died from marijuana use in the history of mankind.
But hey, alcohol makes me sexy and have the time of my life and everyone around me appreciates my humor.
If we are serious about reducing gun violence, allowing the legal use of marijuana is among the first steps.
For all the children out there whose lives are endangered by streets occupied by drug dealers, change the law.
The street dealers are there because they have access to an illegal product in demand. They do not necessarily like the product, but they love the medium of exchange and will do anything to get it, including gun violence. Legalizing the product will change the face of the market and provide the consumer with recourse should he find he just paid $100 for a quarter oz of oregano.
Not a set back. Different question with the same results. Until the drug war is ended the answer will remain the same.......No. It's up to our dysfunctional congress to set things in a more reasonable direction. HA! Don't hold your breath.
We must keep the prisons full and keep people caged up as long as possible!!!Good Job US Government!
Typical..
Those are my only choices? How about..
Q: Should marijuana be placed on a lower tier of federal restrictions?
If alcohol and tobacco are legal then perhaps marijuana should be too, but we will never see it called "medical tobacco" or "medical alcohol"... Base the legalization fight on facts and popular support rather than baseless medical claims and it may one day be legal like tobacco or alcohol.
'Pain' clinics have created more addicts in this country than the Mexican cartel ever has. Don't make the mistake of having this "regulated" by physicians. They have failed miserably with responsibly prescribing narcotics and benzos (except for the millions they rake in from their addicts). Perhaps the DEA should focus on docs responsible for the prescription drug epidemic which kills more people than heroin and cocaine combined, and leave marijuana issues to the states.
I have fibromyalgia and ADHD and I am an empath (an actual psychiatric diagnosis). My dr's say, don't drink, don't smoke pot, and heaven's knows, dont' drink and smoke and take speed for the adhd! But, hey, I've got all sorts of pharmaceuticals I can prescribe for you! Just be sure to come in every 6 weeks so we can check your blood and make sure these prescribed drugs aren't destroying your liver. REALLY?! @!$%#IN' REALLY?!?
I wonder how much money is being paid to the judges from the cartels to keep it illegal? Some one must be making money noff it besides the cartel.
Bruce, your premise is spot on...except it's not the cartels paying off the judges. It's Big Pharma paying off our Senators and Representatives to keep it illegal. And they're laughing all the way to the bank. Every day. Corrupt much?
time to fire and rehire
a couple of judges
Yes, poison ivy is a natural plant, but God doesn't recommend its usage to counter the effects of multiple sclerosis.
So, JESUS IS WATCHING?!?! Don't forget that overturning turning tables and going bat@!$%# crazy oin those who ignore YOUR God, WAS A CHOICE FOR JESUS!@!
Laurie, My take on this is that Jesus recognized the money changers as those who would eventually cause the destruction of The Lord's beloved earth. They are the cause of more human suffering than all other causes combined. With the power he could bring to bear I think Jesus was overwhelmingly merciful to them.
Why do you think they call Marijuana a "Gateway Drug," because it is you Dopes. The only way to regulate it is to grow a certain stock that meets government regulations for THC content. Currently, anyone who has access to it does not now the strength of the Drug they are smoking. It just takes a little common sense to understand the danger of this drug if it is not regulated correctly. Same thing happened in the late 1800s with Alcohol, and look how it became regulated.
The entire argument is a joke. For ever user out there that smokes pot "medicinally" there are thousands of others that hide behind the "medical" terminology simply to imbibe in what they see as a "harmless, healthy, natural, never-hurtanyone" drug. Plain and simple. In my state, the 3 tiered system is ridiculuous, right along with the so-called doctors that dole out the cards for little more than a complaint of menstral cramps, hand pain or laziness. The grower, the provider and the patient...in my neck of the woods, it's just a great little system for the stoners to simply have legal access to "the good stuff" and the ability to smoke it themselves, with plenty left over the sell to their stoner "buddies" (no pun intended). Like I said, it's a JOKE.
Obviously, you have have NEVER had menstrual cramps! If you HAD been doubled over with THAT PAIN, you;d shut your f'in mouth and realize, MAYBE OTHERS ARE DEALING WITH A HELLUVA LOTTA PAIN!!@! Who the @!$%# do you think you are to decide what someone else feels?!?!?!? GODDAM MEN WHO THINK THEY CAN CONTROL EVERYTHING!!!! KISS ME LILY WHITE ASS!!!!
Laurie, wouldn't you be shocked to find out "laughing-1649661" is actually a black lesbian stoner; otherwise, I would have to say you are having a bad trip. Move away from the keyboard that a Man may have assembled in China where Women are still treated as Cattle.
Spo de o de - i don't give a rat's ass who anyone is on this space! I am a 55 yo caucasian highly educated woman. I am fairly normal, married a man, had boy/girl twins with him (and, with my prior male lover, another daughter). I have a very hard time identifying myself as anything other than Homo sapiens, but, I do believe I keep an open mind about all sorts of issues. Even crazy rat bastards. Who need a TREMENDOUS amount of help! If we do not choose PEACE, we choose VIOLENCE. So, what is YOUR CHOICE?!?!?!
Oh, and, Spo de o de, that keyboard was most likely assembled by a CHILD while his father beat the crap out of his mother! KISS MY FLABBY WHITE ASS idiot!
The only reason to use marijuana is to get a high. Keep medicine out of the argument. There are medicines to treat each of the symptoms that are claimed to be improved with marijuana without getting one high. Cocaine is a schedule 2 drug because it is used to control bleeding by ENT and ER doctors, not to get one high. Alcohol can be consumed (a glass of wine with a meal) without having to be mood altering.
You are mostly incorrect.
zombieprepper: how the hell do YOU know what someone else FEELS inside their body!?!?!? Not one of us can say what another feels! How dare any of us be so presumptuous?!?!?! Got a bio degree here, and can say without reserrvation, not one doctor/scientist/researcher KNOWS what happens in another's body! Drugs that docs and scientists have given the green light have made me have AWFUL reactions! DO NOT PRESUME TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN SOMEONE ELSE'S BODY!!!!
Total bull@!$%#!! It's a matter of time that ALL states legalize it, and screw the federal government! They are loosing credibility as the days go by!! They have no right to tell me and you what we can and cannot consume!!!!!!! This countries policies are archaic and damn near revolting when it comes to cannabis! This country would be WAY better off if cannabis was legalized...without a doubt! I'll keep smoking it, with my middle finger extended and pointed in the government direction! I'm just fed up...no pun intended :)
There are still significantly more alchohol related deaths crimes and incidents reported and far more health related issues
connected with alchohol consumption than has ever been attributed to the use of marijuana, yet alchohol use remains one of the biggest problems of society and is abused far more than pot by young people. People who smoke marijuana are not nearly as dangerous or more criminally inclined than those individuals who abuse alchohol. Keeping marijuana use and possesion a crime provides criminal elements and drug cartels with a source of revenue to futher fund and enable their illlicit criminal activities and diverts much needed resources to fight the illegal importation of marijuana instead of stopping terroism and the flood of illegal aliens at our nations borders. Marijuana should be produced, regulated and taxed like alchohol and become a source of tax revenue rather than a drain on our police forces, judicial system and tax dollars.
Most Americans agree with you.
Hey Judge Harry, your political Asp is showing. Yesterday when 99.9 % of the political community where watching our Presidental ceremonies, your making a political decision against this, because your hatred and bigotry over Prez O. You needed to be prove that you will make judgements to show your republican power.....IMO....get off the bench and go watch Archie Bunker and follow J Edgar Hoover....your idols.....IMO....
Used to smoke daily when I was younger. So, from experience think pot is a dead end.
People should find something constructive to do.
The federal laws need to be changed. They are not in line with the wishes of the American people. A minority of people want to keep marijuana illegal -- this is a tyranny of the minority.
Federal judges finding in favor of a federal agency. Who could have seen that coming?