Last October, for the first time in decades, a federal judge accepted a hearing on whether marijuana belongs in the same classification as heroin. The DEA currently regulates marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, treating it as more dangerous than meth or cocaine.
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of Sacramento held a fact-finding hearing on the issue, over the course of five days. The California court will rule on the long-disputed question sometime this year, according to the latest report from the Los Angeles Time.
The hearing came from a pretrial motion by the defense in U.S. v. Schweder. The defendants are charged with growing marijuana in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Mueller accepted the defense’s request to argue that marijuana’s drug classification is medically unsound. “[T]here is new scientific and medical information raising contested issues of fact regarding whether the continued inclusion of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance … passes constitutional muster,” she said.
The DEA’s classification of marijuana relies partly on it having “no currently accepted medical use,” according to the government. The defense brought in scientists and medical professionals to argue what most people already believe: medical marijuana provides much-needed relief for patients suffering from numerous diseases.
Should Mueller rule in the defendants’ favor, it would have no national legal implications. But it would likely inspire a storm of similar defenses across the country, and re-energize the movement to reclassify marijuana.
