Medical cannabis by state[edit] In the United States, cannabis per se has been criminalized at the Federal level by implementation of the Controlled Substances Act, which classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug – the strictest classification, on par with heroin, LSD and ecstasy. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gonzales v. Raich that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allows the government to ban any use of cannabis, including medical use. The United States Food and Drug Administration states marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.[17][18] Since the medical marijuana movement began, 23 states and the District of Columbia, starting with California in 1996, have legalized medical cannabis or effectively decriminalized it: Alaska,[19] Arizona,[20] California,[21] Colorado,[22] Connecticut,[23][24] Delaware,[25] Hawaii,[26] Illinois, Maine,[27] Massachusetts, Maryland,[28] Michigan,[29] Montana,[30] Nevada,[31] New Hampshire, New Jersey,[32] New Mexico,[33] Oregon,[34] Rhode Island,[35] Vermont,[36] Washington;[37][38] Maryland allows for reduced or no penalties if cannabis use has a medical basis.[39][40][41] Despite legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, an employee may still be fired if they test positive on a drug test, despite having a doctors recommendation.[42] California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Maine, Rhode Island, Montana, and Michigan are currently the only states to utilize dispensaries to sell medical cannabis; Connecticut and Massachusetts are also planning to do so. During 2008, Californias medical cannabis industry took in about $2 billion and generated $100 million in state sales taxes[43] with an estimated 2,100 dispensaries, co-operatives, wellness clinics and taxi delivery services in the sector colloquially known as cannabusiness.[44] Though it does not have an established medical registry program, the state of Virginia,[45] does allow for possession under the directive as medicine. Some individual states such as Oregon choose to issue medical marijuana cards[46] to residents with a doctors recommendation after paying a fee. In October 2009, the U.S. Deputy Attorney General issued a U.S. Department of Justice memorandum to All United States Attorneys providing clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in states that have enacted medical marijuana laws. The document is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion and as guidance on resource allocation and federal priorities. It includes seven criteria to help determine whether a patients use, or their caregivers provision, of medical cannabis represents part of a recommended treatment regiment consistent with applicable state law. The Department advised that it likely was not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on seriously ill individuals, or on their individual caregivers. ... Large-scale, for-profit commercial enterprises, on the other [hand], ... continued to be appropriate targets for federal enforcement and prosecution. The sale and distribution of cannabis remains illegal under federal law,[47] however, as the Food and Drug Administrations position – that marijuana has no accepted value in the treatment of any disease in the United States – remains unchanged.[17] In November 2011, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR part 404.7(a)(1)(i), the NIH announced that it is contemplating the grant of an exclusive patent license to practice the invention embodied therein to KannaLife Sciences Inc.. The prospective exclusive license territory may be worldwide, and the field of use may be limited to: The development and sale of cannabinoid(s) and cannabidiol(s) based therapeutics as antioxidants and neuroprotectants for use and delivery in humans, for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy, as claimed in the Licensed Patent Rights.[48]
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:03:07 +0000
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