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 The second criterion for placement in ScheduJe l is that
 "the drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical
 use in treatment in the United States." 21 U.S.C. ;312(b)(1).
 By contrast, substances classified in the other schedules of the
 Act (Schedules H-V) are all deemed to have "currently accepted
 medica{ uses" or "currently accepted medicaE uses with severe
 restrictions." See, 21 U.SoC. 812(b)(2)o(5); S.RepNo. 91-6t3,
 supra, at pgs. t6-1 7; HoR. Rep. No. 91_14.44, supra, at pgs. 4604-05.
 it is dear that when the CSA was adopted in t970, marijuana
 did not have "currently accepted medica_ uses" in the United
 States. However, it is equal}y clear that today marijuana does
 have a number of "currently accepted medica_ uses" in this
 country, particu[aHy in the treatment of glaucoma and patients
 receMng cancer chemotherapy, which have been recognized by laws
 recently passed in twenty-four states and by recent actions of
 the federal government°
 It is important to note that the medical use of marijuana is
 not entirely a recent phenomenon° Marijuana has been used as a
 medicine for thousands of years. As the Secretary of Health,
 Education and Weffare has stated, Narijuana and Health, Fifth
 Annual Report, supra, at pgs. 117_1 8:
 The therapeutic use of cannabis (marijuana)
 predates recorded history. The earliest
 written reference is to be found in the
 fifteenth century 8.C., Chinese Pharmacopeia,
 the Rh-Ya. From the Chinese plateau its use
 ... spread to India, the Wliddle East and
 far beyond...
 Cannabis was widely used in painful
 conditions _ike neurolgia, gysmenorrhea and
 toothache, and its relaxant and euphoriant
 properties may weJ[ have been utilized in the
 treatment of meJancholia and hysteria.
 Because of its purported analgesic effect,
 supported by some recent findings, cannabis
 also found service in minor operations like
 circumcision and boil lancing.




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