Uncle Sam: Still dumb about pot

Americans for Safe Access, a marijuana advocacy group, challenged in court Uncle Sam’s inane classification of marijuana as a “Schedule I” drug that is as dangerous as heroin.

ASA contenced federal officials should reclassify marijuana as a drug that has clear benefits for people in pain or suffering loss of appetite. 

Dismayingly, U.S. appeals court Tuesday refused to order a Uncle Sam to change. One judge in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said judges agree marijuana might have medical benefits. But they could not overrule the DEA because they had not seen big studies that proved the medical value of marijuana.

Shouldn’t the burden of proof be on federal officials to prove marijuana is dangerous? 

And so the schizoid legal universe goes on, with California legalizing medical mariuana, and Uncle Sam fighting it. Obama reportedly has said he would like to make changes in America’s drug policy in his second term. He could start by reigning in federal law enforcement officials, who are willfully retrograde and rogue on marijuana.

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    Michael Fitzgerald

    Mike Fitzgerald is The Record’s award-winning metro columnist. His column runs in the paper three times a week. Born in San Francisco, he was raised in Stockton. His column covers diverse beats including, sometimes, the offbeat. Read Full
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