Federal crackdown confounds States that allow medical marijuana

In an article in The New York Times, New Federal Crackdown Confounds States That Allow Medical Marijuana, it is made clear that federal prosecutors are suddenly asserting themselves, authorizing raids and sending strongly worded letters that have cast new uncertainty on an issue that has long brimmed with tension between federal and state law.

In a comment John J. Coleman, President, Drug Watch International, states that the collision of conflicting federal and state drug laws was bound to occur ever since California adopted Prop 215 in the mid-1990s.

Coleman: It appears that reason has begun to surface and US Attorneys * are becoming more active in advising states concerning the legal implications of state laws that go beyond not prosecuting patients who use marihuana for medical purposes. While some may see a state rights issue here, governors and their state attorneys general, I’m sure, understand the meaning of the decision in Gonzales v. Raich (2005) and, as a result, are reluctant to challenge the feds on this issue. This article from today’s NY Times gives a good description of the progress being made by federal prosecutors to curb the burgeoning medical pot industry that has flourished in some regions under lax state laws. The author makes one relatively minor mistake: cocaine is a Schedule II controlled substance, not a Schedule I drug like heroin or marihuana, because it has been approved by FDA for medical use in the United States. When lawfully used today, if at all, it is used as a topical anesthetic for delicate surgeries of the eye and throat.

Although crude marihuana remains a Schedule I drug, the FDA has approved two drugs that use synthetic versions of its principal active agent, THC, for medicinal purposes. The FDA is currently reviewing a New Drug Application for another cannabinoid drug that uses an extract of organic cannabis as its active ingredient. Differential scheduling of drugs is not unusual under U.S. and international treaty obligations. Codeine, for example, can be found in four of the five CSA drug schedules (C-I, C-II, C-III, and C-V), depending upon its formulation, approval status as a medicine, and potential for abuse. Thus, while marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols remain Schedule I controlled substances, the law permits the FDA and the DEA to schedule medicinal forms of these drugs differentially according to their formulations, approval as medicines, and potential for abuse.

* “US Attorneys” are the federal prosecutors in each of 96 federal districts throughout the U.S. This person is appointed by the incumbent president and is responsible for enforcing federal laws within his or her district.