Experts: DEA Unlikely to Re-Classify Marijuana Despite Public Pressure to Do So

MarijuanaBy Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The DEA pledged in April it would review marijuana’s classification so that it could be researched for possible medicinal benefits.

But don’t expect the DEA to change the current classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which means it is in the “most dangerous class” of substances.

Business Insider interviewed drug-policy experts who believe the DEA won’t make the change despite a monumental shift in the public’s attitude about marijuana, which has been legalized in many states for medicinal purposes.

“DEA will carry out its assessment of the FDA recommendation in accordance with the [Controlled Substances Act] … and hopes to release its determination in the first half of 2016,” the DEA said in a letter to a group of Democratic senators, first obtained by The Huffington Post.

By changing the classification, it would clear the way for legalizing marijuana more broadly.

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