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 UNZTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 :: Drug Enforcement Administr'ation
 In The Matter Of )
 i::': ) _ocket Mo_ 86_22
 _ARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION )
 OPINION AND RECOM_NDED RULING, F_NDINGS OF
 _.:i_ FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DtC_SION OF
 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE
 TO
 i_ INTRODUCTION
 This is a rulemaklng pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.Co
 § 551, e=_seq., to determine whether the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa L)
 (-
 _ considered as a whole may lawfully be transferred from Schedule I tq Schedule 11
 .of the schedules established by the Controlled Substances Act (the Act), 21
 U.S.C. § 801, e.___ se_? None of the parties is seeking to "legalize" mar_j, uax_.
 (
 generally or for recreational purposes. Placement in Schedule II would meen,
 essentially, that physlc_ans in the Un_ed States _,ould not violate Federal law
 by prescrlblngmarljuana for their patients for legltimate therapeutic purposes.
 It is contrary to Federal la_ for physicians to do this as long as marijuana
 _emalns In Sch,_le. r_ :2
 11_Is proceeding had its orlglns on May 18, 1972 when the Natlonal Organi-
 zatlon for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and two other groups submitted
 petltlon to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) I, predecessor
 <__ I The powers _nd authority granted by the Act to _:he Attorney Genera] were
 delegated to the Director of BNDD and subsequenl:_y to the Administrator of
 DEA. 28 C.F.R. § O.lO0, e_ _e_.