Controlled Substances Act: A Case Study

Drug policy is a crucial topic in the country today. Substance abuse, as well as drug-related crime rates, are a huge problem. This is a fact. The way to fix the problem of substance abuse, however, is widely disagreed upon. Some think that stricter laws regarding drug possession and use would solve the problem, while others believe that loosening the restrictions would be a better option. The issue of legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, is one that is debated all the time. In fact, in 1995, a survey was conducted on the most important policy issues and eighty five percent of the country placed drugs at the top of the list (Falco 1996). Many states are actually beginning to decriminalize, and even

An area that could cause problems with the Controlled Substance Act would be how states set the laws concerning the use of recreational marijuana. States like Colorado who have laws that allow the use of recreational marijuana have certain limits on plant count, usable product, assistance, applying for a red card, transferring marijuana and privacy (Black, 2014). It has been shown that in Colorado that the Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division has not yet ordered testing of the cannabis that has been grown for mold or any other contaminants or for

For decades America has associated marijuana with many things, and none of them ever any good. From the ‘60s with the hippie revolution, to today with criminals of all kinds, there have been numerous associations that are arguably unwarranted in this day and age. Why is it that we have such negative feelings about marijuana? In America today, the government considers it a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a “high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use.” The problem with this classification clearly lies in the second half of its classification. Marijuana certainly has medicinal purposes, and humans have been using it for centuries to primarily treat chronic pain and a lack of appetite. It is hard to construct a

Drugs categorized as Schedule I must meet three criteria; the drug has a high potential for abuse, the drug has no therapeutic value, and the drub is not safe for medicinal use. The federal government defends this classification, citing concerns about the validity of research showing the medicinal benefits of cannabis and the impact on society of legalizing its’ usage.” –Therapeutic Cannabis, Mathre-

Marijuana in the United States has been a big issue for decades dating back to when it was first made illegal in 1937. Using scare tactics, propaganda, and false facts, the government decided to classify the plant as a schedule one drug along with substances such as ecstasy, LSD, and heroin. Marijuana has since become a more common and socially acceptable (Not by the government) drug in recent years. This past year Colorado, Washington, and Oregon had decided to vote on the issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Focusing on Colorado, Amendment 64 passed on November 6th, 2012 which would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of the plant.

Later the Act was ruled unconstitutional and was replaced with the Control Substance Act in 1970. The new Act settled schedules for ranking different substances based off their potency (Reiman, Amanda, and Malik Burnett). Marijuana was placed in the most restrictive of the categories known as schedule I. According to the (DEA) the classifications consist of five categories: Schedule I being the most serious and having the highest potential for addiction and abuse. Schedule II, III, IV, and V drugs have less potential risk for addiction and

Currently, marijuana is listed in Schedule 1, which makes it highly addictive with no medical benefit. Lowering the classification would make marijuana available for medical use, making it palatable to prohibitionist. Kreit rejects the idea and used the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) as a rationale that rescheduling marijuana to a lower level or removing it altogether would not meet U.S. treaty

Laws are created by parliament which is made up by the MP’S society votes for during the election process. The Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) was introduced to prevent the misuse of controlled drugs such as cannabis, amphetamine and other drugs stated in the Act. The Act attempts to prevent the misuse of drugs by making it a criminal offence to be in possession or supply, manufacture, import and export drugs (Drugscope, 2015). The Act also gives the Home secretary authority to ban new drugs and increase the penalties associated with them.

However, in the eyes of the law, marijuana is classified in schedule 1 drugs which mean that it is likely to be abused and is not categorically accepted in medical practice in America. These two descriptions create a source of conflict and

Problems Addressed by the Statute: The Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) was enacted in response to chemical exposure in the biosphere; of these exposures, some have been documented to severely affect and endanger an organism's health. Four years prior to this act being set as law, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) had encouraged regulation of toxic chemical substances because the legislation at that time was not sufficient in managing these types of substances. Similar to OPA, many previous occurrences of harmful chemical exposures were not dealt with until after the event occurred and damages had already been administered. Once the federal government agreed with the CEQ’s proposal, TSCA was passed. TSCA mandates under the

Marijuana is classified as a schedule I controlled substance because there are studies that suggest that it has a high potential for abuse and that there is no solid evidence that it has medical benefits. Medical institutes like the British Medical Association (BMA) state that marijuana has been linked to health issues such as heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema. Most importantly the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is in charge of approving and rejecting drugs for safe medical uses, has not approved smoked marijuana as a medical treatment. The FDA has stated that there is not enough reliable evidence showing that marijuana is a safe and an effective treatment. There is more evidence supporting that smoked marijuana

Marijuana has become one of the most controversial drugs in America. Ever since its cultivation began around 1611, marijuana has puzzled people with its effects. Many question marijuana?s classification as a schedule one drug. A schedule one drug is one that has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. Some argue that the war on drugs, in particular marijuana, has cost taxpayers billions and is wasting funds that could be used on more important tasks such as improving transportation or education. As drug arrests rise, so do the populations in state prisons. This has become an immediate problem with no real solution. The legalization of possessing small amounts of marijuana can contribute positively to the medical and

The federal government states that Schedule I drugs have no medicinal use or values and that they are highly addictive and cause poor health issues. Other drugs that are in the schedule I category are Heroin, LSD, Ecstasy, Methaqualone, and Peyote. The idea that cannabis can be as harmful as these other drugs is unreasonable. I believe this is a big reason for the slow moving legalization of marijuana. On one side you have people that really think that it is as harmful as the DEA has presented because of poor education and the misrepresentation of Marijuana. On the other side, you have people that have no idea that it is considered as harmful as heroin and would most likely disagree. There have been petitions to get Marijuana rescheduled, but all have failed and the federal government seems to show no future plans of entertaining the idea. Meanwhile other drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine are only Schedule II on the DEAs Drug Scheduling. Cocaine, less harmful than marijuana, there’s a thought.

On June 1971 Nixon officially declared a “war on drugs” calling it a serious national threat. Then on June 1973 Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) which is responsible for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations. As of currently, marijuana is classified as a schedule I substance by the DEA, which makes it a federal crime to grow, possess, or distribute marijuana and to open, rent, or maintain a place of business for any of these purposes. Other substances classified as a schedule I drug include heroin, LSD, and MDMA. However, marijuana is clearly less dangerous and additive as these other drugs, which leads us to ask the question why is it that marijuana is still a schedule I drug.

This all started in 1970 when Richard Nixon created the Controlled Substance Acts. At this time there was not enough scientific information to make marijuana legal or illegal, and Nixon was selfish along with being prejudice towards Jews and racist towards Mexicans and Blacks (he thought cultures used it as weapon). Nixon made a comment saying “Enforce the law, you’ve got to scare them.” Which was him telling congress to figure out a way to prevent marijuana from being accepted, their way of doing it was to make marijuana a Schedule 1 drug.