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 All of the studies and reports mentioned in this legislative
 history have now been compJeted, and in addition, there have been
 a number of other major studies on marijuana conducted in the
 United States and several foreign countries. Over the past
 decade, a very extensive amount of research has been done on
 marijuana, and in the words of one of the most distinguished
 marijuana researchers, Dr. Norman Zinberg of the Harvard Medical
 School, "we know as much about marijuana [today] as about any
 drug." Zinberg, The War Over Marijuana, at pg. IO2.
 Zt is these recent studies and reports which the court must
 consider in determining whether marijuana can be classified in
 Schedule I, rather than the limited information available to
 Congress when the CSA was passed, or the exaggerated and
 distorted claims about marijuana which have often appeared in the
 media.
 1. Narijuana Does Not Have a High PotentiaJ for
 Abuse.
 The first criterior_ for placement in Schedule l is that "the
 drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse." 21
 U.S.C. 812(b)(1). The recent studies on marijuana demonstrate,
 however, that the reverse is true -- it has a Eow potentiaf for
 abuse.
 Perhaps the best e×ample of this is the definitive report
 issued by the White House Domestic Council Drug Abuse Task Force,
 White Paper on DruŁ Abuse (Sept. 1975). The Task Force, which
 consisted of the federat government's chief officials involved
 with drugs and drug abuse, including HEW and DEA, made a number
 of significant recommendal!iOnSo The report urged that marijuana
 possession offenses by "deemphasized" because they posed the
 [east risk of harm to the individuals and to society of the drugs
 commonly used in the United States. Jd., at p. 33. The report
 called for a "better targeting of limited resources, o o on the
 basis of priorities which reflect current conditions and current
 knowledge." Ido at p. 34.
 The report also contained a chart which compared the
 potential for abuse of marijuana with other drugs in Schedule I
 (heroin and hallucinogens) and Schedule Im (cocaine, amphetamines
 and barbiturates). Ud. at p. 33. Narijuana has the _owest
 potential for abuse of all the listed drugs:




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