U.S. decides against reclassifying marijuana

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided marijuana will remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, fully rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization but ending the federal government’s decades-old monopoly on marijuana production for studies by saying that it will allow more research into its medical uses.

The decision to expand research into marijuana’s medical potential is expected to potentially pave the way for the drug to be moved to a lesser category. Heroin, peyote and marijuana, among others, are considered Schedule I drugs because they have no medical application; cocaine and opiates, for example, have medical uses and, while still illegal for recreational use, are designated Schedule II drugs.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the agency’s decision came after a lengthy

review and consultation with the Health and Human Services Department, which said marijuana “has a high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use.” The decision means that pot will remain illegal for any purpose under federal law, despite laws in 25 states and District of Columbia that have legalized it for medicinal or recreational use.

Advocates have pushed for the federal government to follow suit, and Thursday’s decision defied the growing clamor to legalize marijuana for the treatment of a variety of conditions. “If the scientific understanding about marijuana changes — and it could change — then the decision could change,” DEA acting administrator Chuck Rosenberg wrote in a letter to the governors of Rhode Island and Washington, who sought the review of marijuana’s classification in 2011.

The Food and Drug Administration said agency officials reviewed more than 500 studies on the use of medical marijuana, identifying only 11 that met the agency standards for “legitimate testing.” For various reasons, none of the trials demonstrated “an accepted medical use,” the agency concluded.

The FDA last evaluated marijuana for medical use in 2006 and said in its latest review that the available research “has progressed,” but does not meet federal standards of safety or effectiveness.

Some legalization advocates scheduled a protest Thursday night to throw marijuana seeds on the White House lawn.

The DEA did announce plans to make it easier for researchers to study pot’s possible medical benefits by expanding the number of entities that can legally grow marijuana for research purposes.

That move is expected to have wide-reaching implications. Medical researchers have long complained federal policy on marijuana inhibits scientific breakthroughs, leaving patients to rely on anecdotal evidence of the drug’s curative qualities.

Currently only researchers at the University of Mississippi are allowed to grow marijuana as part of a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

There are more than 100 cannabinoids in the marijuana plant, and scientists are feverishly seeking to isolate the ones that may be most effective.