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Rijuana is a psychoactive drug that generally consists of...

Toussaintfreedom Says...

rijuana is a psychoactive drug that generally consists of leaves and flowers of the cannabis
sativa plant.

Its history dates back thousands of years, but in the United States it became popular
as a recreational drug in the early 20th century.

Not long after its rise in popularity, the federal
government began to exercise control over marijuana and other substances through its taxing
authority, and it enacted criminal penalties for violations of drug laws. In 1970, the federal
government enacted the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which imposed a unified legal
framework at the federal level to regulate certain drugs--whether medical or recreational, and legally or illicitly distributed.

The CSA criminalized the manufacture, distribution, dispensation, and possession of marijuana, which included all of
varieties of cannabis at the time (in 2018, the farm bill [P.L. 115-334] amended the CSA to exclude hemp--plant material
that contains no more than 0.3% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [delta-9-THC] on a dry weight basis).

Under the CSA, marijuana and its derivatives are classified as Schedule I controlled substances, which means the cultivation
(or manufacture), possession, and distribution of marijuana are illegal except for the purposes of sanctioned research.

While
the CSA definition of marijuana changed in 2018, which resulted in the removal of hemp from the definition of marijuana,
the status of marijuana as a Schedule I substance has remained unchanged for over 50 years.

Many states, however, have
established a range of laws and policies allowing for the medical and recreational use of marijuana over the last several
decades.

Most of these states have deviated from an across-the-board prohibition of marijuana, and it is now more the rule
than the exception that states have laws and policies allowing for some cultivation, sale, distribution, and possession of
marijuana or low-THC cannabis--many of which are contrary to the CSA. As of April 1, 2022, 37 states, as well as Puerto
Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia, allow for the comprehensive medical use of marijuana,
while 11 additional states allow for the medical use of low-THC cannabis.

Also, 18 states, the District of Columbia, Guam,
and the Northern Mariana Islands allow for recreational use of marijuana.

These developments have spurred a number of
questions regarding potential implications of the federal and state marijuana policy gap for federal law enforcement activities,
for individuals who comply with state marijuana law but violate federal marijuana law, and for the nation's dr

Posted November 24 2023 at 8:17 PM

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