Advocates of medical marijuana argue that marijuana is regulated, supervised and prescribed by medical doctors, unlike recreational marijuana, which is why they don’t think the DEA understands the value of the drug.
By leaving the drug at the Schedule I classification, the DEA is saying that they don’t accept the medical use because it has a high potential for abuse.
The good news is that the government did announce a plan to increase the supply of marijuana for medical research. The more research takes place, the more the DEA will be forced to reevaluate the drug’s classification.
There’s still hope if the US Food and Drug Administration approves a marijuana-based drug because then the DEA will be forced to reevaluate the drug’s classification.