norml23 - Page 15
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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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