The Drug Enforcement Administration along with the Food and Drug Administration answered to a request on Thursday to reconsider the drug. But still, the decision for regulation cannot be moved as marijuana has no medical value.
The DEA and FDA are still in unison when it comes to the regulation of marijuana which according to some has medical purposes, hence, the name medical marijuana. The decision disappointed many advocates with high hopes that the government would cease the regulation or maybe loosen it a little bit for the cannabis.
Many turn to the presidential election whose priority is marijuana legalization. Marijuana supporters are hoping it might overrule cannabis' regulatory state.
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said in a report that she supports the reclassification of marijuana being a Schedule II substance. She believes that more research is needed to examine marijuana if it really has of medical usage. Republican candidate Donald Trump, on the other hand, is uncertain when he says that he supports medical cannabis but in regard with its widespread legalization, it's good and bad in some ways.
Currently, the University of Mississippi is the only one approved for growing the controversial plant for research purposes. The regulatory agency allowed more organization to growing federally-authorized marijuana. This, in turn, broadens the opportunity for additional research about the medical values of marijuana that could persuade FDA and lift its restrictions, according to Market Watch.
"We continue to encourage work to assess whether there are appropriate and effective therapeutic uses of marijuana and its components and believe the drug approval process using scientifically valid and well-controlled clinical trials is the most appropriate way for this to occur," FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said in a statement.
The DEA and FDA's decision will keep marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance and has the firmest restrictions. The federal government regards substances tagged as Schedule I with no medical purposes. In contrast, four states have already made marijuana a legal substance for recreational consumption. District of Columbia and 25 other states have medical marijuana authority, The Denver Post reported.
Some independent researchers state that regardless of the rise in access to marijuana research approval, it seems that the U.S. government is not interested in the funds' upheaval for the research work.
Legalization of medical marijuana will still continue to be a debate unless DEA and FDA are provided with proof that the illegal substance indeed has medical properties that can cure many diseases.
