DEA Free to Designate Pot Schedule I Drug, DC Circuit Rules
The DEA has long designated marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the Administrations' most-restrictive category. It found that pot "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."
Advocates of looser federal restrictions on marijuana suffered a major legal setback Tuesday, when a panel of three judges found that the federal government acted properly in refusing to loosen restrictions on pot.
Pro-marijuana groups and a disabled veteran who said it improves his medical condition argued the agency was ignoring a growing body of scientific evidence that it has some medical benefits. When the DEA refused, they sued.
But by a 2-1 vote, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the DEA did consider all the available information.