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Who is responsible for the state schedule designation of marijuana in Washington, what schedule is it, and what, if anything, is being done to re-sche

Mark Kelderman asked in Weed Week about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Sb_5516_press_conference_small
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    Alison Holcomb

    The state Board of Pharmacy has the authority to schedule and reschedule controlled substances under RCW 69.50.201. The state legislature could also reschedule by amending the Uniform Controlled Substances Act to remove marijuana from Washington's Schedule I.

    The problem is that until the federal government - through either the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or Congress - reschedules marijuana within the federal Controlled Substances Act, rescheduling at the state level serves little purpose. This is because the ability to prescribe controlled substances is controlled by the federal government through DEA registration. If the DEA believes a prescriber "has committed such acts as would render his [or her] registration ... inconsistent with the public interest" (by, say, prescribing marijuana), the agency can initiate proceedings to revoke his or her DEA registration.  This would prevent the medical professional from prescribing medications and thereby make it difficult to continue practicing medicine.

    This is exactly the tactic taken by the federal government when California passed our nation's first medical marijuana law in 1996.  The feds threatened the DEA registration of any California doctor who recommended marijuana in compliance with state law.  The ACLU sued and won an injunction.  The distinction between a prescription and a medical marijuana recommendation was key to the decision:

    On appeal, the government first argues that the "recommendation" ... is analogous to a "prescription" of a controlled substance, which federal law clearly bars.  ...  If, in making the recommendation, the physician intends for the patient to use it as a means for a patient to obtain a controlled substance, then a physician would be guilty of aiding and abetting the violation of federal law.

    Conant v. Walters, 309 F.3d 629, 635 (9th Cir. 2002).

    Federal control of the ability to prescribe is why Oregon's rescheduling of marijuana last summer had no effect on practitioners' ability to prescribe it.

    Alison Holcomb answered in Weed Week about 1 year ago | Report
    3 comments by protosaurus, Mark Kelderman, and Alison Holcomb…
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  • Cdc_logo_color_smaller_border
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    cdc

    Authority to add, delete, or reschedule substances in Washington State lies with the state board of pharmacy (per RCW 69.50.201, part of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act).

    Cannabis (marijuana) is a Schedule I controlled substance in Washington State.

    To our knowledge, John Worthington, Washington State Director of American Alliance for Medical Cannabis Washington, is the only person actively involved in any significant effort to have cannabis rescheduled in Washington State. The minutes of the May 7, 2009 meeting of the Washington State Board of Pharmacy state that the board considered on that date Mr. Worthington's petition for them to reschedule, then decided by a 5-0 vote to deny his petition based on the same reasons as the board's decision in response to a 2007 petition to reschedule. The minutes of the September 16-17, 2010 meeting of the Washington State Board of Pharmacy state that on July 6, 2010, the board received another petition filed by Mr. Worthington. The petition was again denied by unanimous vote.

    In both petitions, Mr. Worthington requested that the board apply the Schedule I test to cannabis:

    (a) The state board of pharmacy shall place a substance in Schedule I upon finding that the substance:
    (1) has high potential for abuse;

    (2) has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and

    (3) lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.

    (b) The board may place a substance in Schedule I without making the findings required by subsection (a) of this section if the substance is controlled under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act by a federal agency as the result of an international treaty, convention, or protocol

    Mr. Worthington is likely the only person in the state with standing to file suit against the Board of Pharmacy for its refusal to reschedule cannabis despite the clear evidence that it fails the Schedule I test and has accepted medical benefits. We understand that in order to successfully file such a suit, the plaintiff must have repeatedly petitioned the board and had those petitions refused, and it appears that Mr. Worthington is the only entity in Washington State to have done so.

    cdc answered in Weed Week about 1 year ago | Report
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