For decades the United States government has shown abject idiocy in how it classifies marijuana.
How can anyone trust a government that classifies weed as a Schedule 1 drug on the same danger level as heroin and crack?
Schedule 1 drugs are considered highly addictive with no medical benefits.
I’ve written about this many times, as recently as last year here and more than a decade ago here.
Bloomberg reports that the Drug Enforcement Agency has asked regulators to study whether to downgrade pot’s classification, which some consider a baby step toward decriminalization.
On the other hand, the DEA is relying on Food and Drug Administration studies. The FDA performed similar studies in 2001 and 2006 and declared pot should remain a Schedule 1 drug. (I’m not sure how they conduct their studies, but it apparently doesn’t involve actually smoking a joint.)
Statistics in Colorado, where recreational marijuana use is now permitted, shows that the marijuana industry has proven to be more profitable for the state than anticipated, while also prompting a decrease in the number of drug crimes. That’s another financial windfall in the form of tax savings from fewer arrests and prosecutions.
