The 1995 Marijuana Rescheduling Petitionby Jon Gettman

2 min read

Cover Letter Required by the Code of Federal Regulations

Exhibit A: The proposed rules for repeal, in the form proposed by the petitioner:

Exhibit B: A statement of the grounds which the petitioner relies for the repeal of the rules.

Exhibit C: Summary of the Evidence.

1. Marijuana’s Actual or Relative Potential For Abuse

a) Introduction and Early Definition of Abuse Potential

b) The Merck Manual on the Abuse Potential of Marijuana

c) Defining Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse

d) Contemporary Evaluation of Dependence Liability

e) Abuse Potential of Marijuana

f) Validity of Addiction Models

g) Introduction to Remaining Sections of the Petition

h) Critique of DEA Interpretation of the CSA

Notes

2. Scientific Evidence of Marijuana’s Pharmacological Effect, If Known

a) Introduction: DEA’s List of Pharmacological Ignorance

b) The Effects of Marijuana Smoke

c) Cannabinoid Pharmacology

d) Dose and Absorption

e) Structure Activity Relationship and Toxicity

Notes

3. The State of Current Scientific Knowledge Regarding Marijuana

a) Introduction: a Scientific Revolution

b) Wrong Track – The Early Hypotheses

c) Technical Flaws

d) Discovery of the Cannabinoid Receptor System

e) Tolerance

f) Amotivational Syndrome

g) Structure Activity Relationship and the Receptor System

h) The Immune System and Other Receptor System Aspects

i) Brain Damage Hypotheses Fall To Brain Therapy Speculation

j) Mechoulam on Policy and the Chemistry of Emotions

k) DEA Findings Disputed

Notes

4. Marijuana’s History and Current Pattern of Use

a) Introduction To Major Statistical Indicators

b) National Household Survey

c) Monitoring the Future

d) Drug Abuse Warning Network

e) National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee

f) Uniform Crime Reports

g) Affirming the Consequent – Perceived Risk and Use

h) Correspondence Rules – What is a Marijuana User?

i) Self Serving Comparisons – Marijuana Potency

j) Misrepresented Research Findings

k) Conclusion: Persistence of Use Marks the Failure of Prohibition

Notes

5. The Scope, Duration and Significance of Marijuana Use

a) Introduction: Additional Social and Economic Costs of Prohibition

b) Set and Setting and the issue of School Age Access

c) Use/Abuse Model Obstructs Prevention Efforts

d) DEA and the Therapeutic Use of Marijuana

e) Prohibition’s Burden on State and Local Governments

f) Cannabis Eradication – Introduction

g) Cannabis Eradication and the Price of Marijuana

h) Effects of Cannabis Eradication on Cultivation Trends and General Availability

i) Federalization of Marijuana Cultivation Offenses

j) Paramilitary Marijuana Operations Expand

k) Cannabis Eradication: Self-Evaluation by the DEA

l) DEA Estimates of Domestic Marijuana Cultivation: Extent and Value

m) Critique of DEA Eradication Program Data

n) Summary of Additional Social and Economic Impacts

Notes

6. What, If any, Risk there is from Marijuana to the Public Health

a) Introduction: Marijuana, Public Health, and Teens

b) Interpretive Models of Teen Marijuana Use

c) The Gateway Theory: Marijuana Use and Other Drug Use

d) Can We Generalize About an Average Marijuana User?

e) Becker: Becoming a Marijuana User

f) Hansen: Meta-analysis of Adolescent Marijuana Use Studies

g) The Benefits of Delaying the Onset of First Use of Any Recreational Drug

h) Nuerobiology, Policy, and Public Health

Notes

7. Marijuana’s Psychic or Physiological Dependence Liability

a) Marijuana’s Dependence Liability – 1970

b) The Legal Importance of Scheduling Criteria

c) The Dependence Liability of Marijuana

Notes

Research Published After the Petition Filing:

Update – Dopamine and the Dependence Liability of Marijuana, July 1997

8. Marijuana’s Constituent Parts

a) Introduction: Issues Raised By Marijuana’s Constituent Parts

b) Study Elements of Federally Funded Marijuana Research

c) Cannabis Chemistry

d) Relative Dangers of Pharmaceutical and Natural Substances

e) Dronabinol

f) History and a Policy Paradigm

g) Institute of Medicine Report: Cannabinoid Pharmacology

h) Cannabinoids is a Precise Scientific Term

i) The Emergence and Promise of Synthetic Cannabinoid Analog Drugs

j) The Common Mechanism of Action of All Cannabinoid Drugs

Notes