Judge Upholds Federal Schedule I Classification of Cannabis

Drawing by Ron Mullins of Sacramento NORML.

Since the ball of cannabis legalization started to roll a few years back, we have seen a mixed bag of outcomes involving legal authority. There have been good things, like when many of Washington state’s pending marijuana charges were just outright dropped after cannabis was legalized. We have seen bad outcomes as well, like parents being arrested and charged with child endangerment for trying to give their epileptic child CBD oil.

Now, in perhaps one of the most disappointing outcomes we’ve seen in a while,  a judge has upheld the Federal Schedule I classification of cannabis after a lengthy debate process.

It all began with a story out of California, a state that has one of the most schizophrenic relationships with cannabis that I have ever seen.

In 2011 nine people were growing weed illegally in California when they were arrested and charged. Their defensive strategy was to claim that the federal scheduling of cannabis as Schedule I (which is reserved for highly addictive, dangerous drugs with no medical value) is unconstitutional.

The good news was that this marked the first time in many years that a judge agreed to a hearing on the federal classification of cannabis. Early in the case, the judge seemed amenable to ruling in the defendant’s favor.

Unfortunately, U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled against the 9 growers, and the comments from the prosecuting attorney (a state employee) and the judge’s ultimate unwillingness to get her hands dirty left me cursing under my breath.

I was actually on a city bus when I heard the news and audibly guffawed.

The prosecuting attorney, after gleefully celebrating the outcome, gave this sound byte to the media: “The question presented in this motion was not whether marijuana should be legalized for medical or recreational use, but whether decisions concerning the status of marijuana under federal law should properly be made in accordance with the science-based scheduling process set forth in the Controlled Substances Act passed by Congress.”

Science-based process championed by Congress? I don’t know what part of that statement is the most absurd. For starters, Congress has never really been too concerned with science, their decisions have long been made by the amount of votes they stand to gain or lose. Let’s not forget that many members of Congress are devout climate change deniers.

Additionally, cannabis was added to Schedule I so that a predominantly white ruling class would have yet another way to persecute minorities. Science never entered the picture. If science was the basis for what should be on Schedule I, alcohol and tobacco would dethrone cannabis with ease.

But that’s nothing new. I’m more disappointed/disgusted with the judge. She sat on a panel last year and, for 5 days, listened to doctors and scientists discuss the medical veracity of cannabis. She listened to actual professional scientists and doctors tell her why cannabis is a viable medicine and then chose to hide from actually affecting some positive change. After initially agreeing to hear the case, she ultimately found them guilty, saying that her’s was neither the court nor the time to discuss this issue. Way to take the easy way out!

Where is the court and when is the time?

Hint: It’s now.