On Wednesday, Eric Holder told reporters in modest terms that the DEA will no longer be busting medical marijuana growers and distributors. But I believe there's a much bigger story behind this, a story that may just bring the full legalization of marijuana closer than ever.
Barack Obama, and by default, Eric Holder, acknowledge the medical purpose of marijuana. Otherwise, they never would have directed the DEA to stop their busts. Some can say that this is a states rights issue, but I think it's the obvious.
Make the jump...
By recognizing marijuana's medicinal purposes, Obama and Holder are removing the foundation for marijuana's inclusion as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substance Act. According to the DOJ...
Schedule I
• The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
• The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
• There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
• Examples of Schedule I substances include heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana, and methaqualone.
Well, the last two qualifying factors for Schedule 1 seem to have been shot down by the President and AG, since they recognize it's medical use. Here's the big picture (from the same site).
Proceedings to add, delete, or change the schedule of a drug or other substance may be initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or by petition from any interested person: the manufacturer of a drug, a medical society or association, a pharmacy association, a public interest group concerned with drug abuse, a state or local government agency, or an individual citizen. When a petition is received by the DEA, the agency begins its own investigation of the drug.
With this new direction being sought by the Obama administration, petitioning the DEA to re-classify marijuana's scheduling might actually start a real debate amongst the DEA and the other agencies involved. I may be optimistic here, but I think this is the start of something much bigger.