It’s high time, pardon the pun, for Congress to change the Controlled Substances Act and remove marijuana’s classification as a Schedule 1 substance, or so concludes an article in the recent Judges’ Journal. “As there are now 39 jurisdictions authorizing use judges and lawyers are stuck within the legal conundrum.” The article detailed numerous situations that created difficult conflicts for attorneys and judges as they struggled to navigate the conflicting state and federal laws.
But it’s not just the legal system that is struggling to deal with this state and federal conflict. The article states, “The obvious tension between marijuana’s Schedule I status and state legislation has created a regulatory mess for industries serving the cannabis sector, particularly banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies. While state and federal laws often diverge — on everything from environmental to workplace laws —marijuana policy is the only area where states regulate and tax conduct that the federal law all but universally prohibits.”
It’s time for Congress to act and remove marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
