A group of lawyers argues in a newly released legal opinion that contrary to what the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has asserted in the past, international drug treaties ought not stand in the way of moving cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended.
In fact, the opinion argues, a move to Schedule III would better uphold the country’s broader obligations under international law to regulate cannabis in a way that protects public health and safety.
“In light of the failed war on drugs, devastating impacts on communities of color, and the public health risks associated with a dangerous illicit market,” it says, “placing cannabis in Schedule III would further the public health, safety, and welfare better than Schedule I or II could.”
The opinion, from cannabis specialists at the law firms of Porter Wright LLP and Vicente LLP, is intended largely to refute a position DEA took in a 2016 denial of an earlier cannabis rescheduling petition, in which the agency wrote that “in view of United States obligations under international drug control treaties, cannabis cannot be placed in a schedule less restrictive than schedule II.”
Read more at: www.marijuanamoment.net