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Since 1972, there have been numerous proposals in the United States to remove cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most tightly restricted category reserved for drugs which have "no currently accepted medical use". Rescheduling proponents argue that cannabis does not meet the Controlled Substances Act's strict criteria for placement in Schedule I, and therefore the government is required by law either to permit medical use or to remove the drug from federal control altogether. The government, on the other hand, maintains that cannabis is dangerous enough to merit Schedule I status. The dispute is based on differing views on how the Act should be interpreted and what kinds of scientific evidence are most relevant to the rescheduling decision. The Controlled Substances Act provides a process for rescheduling controlled substances by petitioning the Drug Enforcement Administration. The first petition under this process was filed in 1972 to allow cannabis to be legally prescribed by physicians. The petition was ultimately denied after 22 years of court challenges, although a pill form of cannabis' psychoactive ingredient, THC, was rescheduled in 1985 to allow prescription under schedule II. In 1999 it was again rescheduled to allow prescription under schedule III. A second petition, based on claims related to clinical studies, was denied in 2001. The most recent rescheduling petition filed by medical cannabis advocates was in 2002, but was denied by the DEA in July 2011. Subsequently, medical cannabis advocacy group Americans for Safe Access filed an appeal in January 2012 with the D.C. Circuit, which was heard on 16 October 2012 and denied on 22 January 2013. As of May 2014, 22 states and Washington D.C. have legalized the use of medical marijuana.〔http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/261093071.html〕 Currently, the FDA is conducting an analysis, at the request of the DEA, on whether marijuana should be downgraded, said Douglas Throckmorton, Deputy Director for Regulatory Programs at the FDA, at a congressional hearing in June 2014. Advocates of marijuana legalization argue that the budgetary impact of removing cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and legalizing its use in the United States could save billions by reducing government spending for prohibition enforcement in the criminal justice system. Additionally, they argue that billions in annual tax revenues could be generated through proposed taxation and regulation.〔Miron, Jeffrey A., Waldock, Katherine. (2010). "(The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition )". Cato Institute. For the original paper, see: Miron, Jeffrey A.. (2005). "The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition". Marijuana Policy Project; See also Caputo, M. R., & Ostrom, B.J. (1994). "Potential tax revenue from a regulated marijuana market: A meaningful revenue source". ''American Journal of Economics and Sociology'', 53, 475–490.〕 Patient advocates argue that by reclassifying marijuana, millions of Americans who are currently prevented from using medical marijuana would be able to benefit from its therapeutic value. ==Background== Schedule I is the only category of controlled substances that may not be prescribed by a physician. Under ', drugs must meet three criteria in order to be placed in 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. In 1970, Congress placed cannabis into Schedule I on the advice of Assistant Secretary of Health Roger O. Egeberg. His letter to Harley O. Staggers, Chairman of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, indicates that the classification was intended to be provisional:
In 1972, the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse released a report favoring decriminalization of cannabis. The Nixon administration took no action to implement the recommendation, however. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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