Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Tulsa Law Review

Publication Date

Fall 2024

ISSN

1538-9979

Page Number

1

Keywords

rescheduling, controlled substances, Schedule 1, Drug Enforcement Administration

Disciplines

Food and Drug Law | Law

Abstract

Over the past fifty years, marijuana advocates invested considerable effort trying to reschedule the drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Multiple times, they pe- titioned the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to take marijuana off the highly re- strictive Schedule I and move it to one of the statute's less tightly regulated Schedules (II- V) or even deschedule the drug altogether. Along the way, they waged protracted legal battles with the agency over the tests and processes it uses for scheduling decisions. How- ever, advocates had very little to show for all their efforts. The DEA rejected every petition to reschedule marijuana. Although advocates won some minor victories against the agency in court, the two agency requirements that have posed the biggest obstacle to rescheduling have survived legal challenge. First, the DEA has insisted that marijuana must have a "currently accepted medical use" (CAMIU) to be moved off Schedule I. Sec- ond, the DEA has insisted that the only way to demonstrate that marijuana has a CAMU is by completing Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) that prove the drug is effective at treating some medical condition. In past scheduling decisions, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) applied these same requirements and advised the DEA that marijuana had to remain on Schedule I because there were no scientific studies that met the agency's standards for demonstrating CAMU (i.e., there were no RCTs establishing the drug's medical efficacy). Perhaps more worrisome, there is no guarantee advocates will ever be able to meet the agency's lofty demands.

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