Why is marijuana illegal?
Marijuana is illegal because Congress passed a law in 1970 that arbitraily classified marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance. Schedule I drugs are not safe to use under medical supervision therefore has no medicinal use. (see below)
The classification of marijuana is arbitray because marijuana does not meet the criteria to be a controlled substance. The federal government says marijuana does not have medicinal use and marijuana is safer to use then alcohol.
TITLE 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS CHAPTER 13 -
DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa.html
CONTOLLED SUBSTANCE ACT
Title 21 § 801(2) Congressional findings and declarations: controlled substances http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/801.htm
(2) The illegal importation, manufacture, distribution, and possession and improper use of controlled substances have a substantial and detrimental effect on the health and general welfare of the American people.
detrimental : obviously harmful : damaging synonyms see pernicious
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detrimental
Pernicious 1: highly injurious or destructive : deadly
Deadly1: likely to cause or capable of producing death <deadly poison>
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§ 812. Schedules of controlled substances
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/812.htm
By Definition, 21 U.S.C. -812(b)(1) (1988) Schedule I Controlled Substances include all drugs or substances which:
(A) have a high potential for abuse,
(B) have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and
(C) have a lack of safety for use under medical supervision.
§ 841. Prohibited acts A http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/841.htm
§ 844. Penalties for simple possession http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/844.htm
(a) Unlawful acts; penalties
§ 844a. Civil penalty for possession of small amounts of certain controlled substances http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode21/usc_sec_21_00000844---a000-.html
a) In general Any individual who knowingly possesses a controlled substance that is listed in section 841(b)(1)(A) of this title in violation of section regulation of the Attorney General, is a personal use amount shall be liable to the United States for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each such violation. http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/841.htm#b
Article 21 of the Treaty and 306 of the CSA 21usc 903
The classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance conflicts with the Constitution of the United States. The classification is only being utilized not for legitimate state purposes, but as an expedient to deprive citizens of valid federal rights to privacy, to property and to liberty secured from unreasonable government intrusion by the 4th and 5th Amendment.
1977
The “placement in schedule I does not appear to flow inevitably from the lack of a currently accepted medical use.” “The legislative history of the CSA indicates that medical use is but one factor to be considered and by no means the most important one.” NORML v. D.E.A. 559 F2d 735 at 748 (1977).
1988
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
FRANCIS L. YOUNG, Administrative Law Judge
DATED: SEPTEMBER 6, 1988
http://www.medmjscience.org/Pages/reports/jyp1.html
Part 4 VIII. ACCEPTED SAFETY FOR USE UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION
p. 56-58
With respect to whether or not there is "a lack of accepted safety for use of [marijuana] under medical supervision", the record shows the following facts to be uncontroverted.
Findings of Fact
3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?
4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.
1991
"The national case law has defined the “Controlled Substance Act” as “a comprehensive regulatory measure that divides the universe of hazardous drugs into five different categories of substances (so called schedules), which determine the severity of restrictions on doctors’ and patients’ access to controlled drugs.” And “ Schedule I drugs are subject to the most severe controls; they are deemed the most dangerous substances, possessing no redeeming value as a medicines”. Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics v DEA, 930 F2d 936, at 937. (D.C. Cir. 1991)
2006
On April 20, 2006 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration that smoked marijuana is harmful. Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01362.html
Marijuana is listed in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the most restrictive schedule. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which administers the CSA, continues to support that placement and FDA concurred because marijuana met the three criteria for placement in Schedule I under 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(1) (e.g., marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision).
“Furthermore, there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful. “