In late 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a significant policy change, stating it would no longer challenge state medical marijuana laws. This decision reversed its previous practice of arresting individuals and seizing marijuana in medicinal settings. This policy shift is thought to be a potential response to recommendations from the scientific community and changing public opinion.

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Medical marijuana may be permitted by individual state laws while still being classified as an illicit substance under federal law. This state-federal conflict makes research on marijuana's possible medicinal value difficult, contributing to scientific disagreement about the extent of its benefits because large-scale controlled studies are lacking. Some scientists therefore argue that federal marijuana laws and classifications should be relaxed to allow broader study of the drug's effects.

Legal Status of Medical Marijuana in the US and Its Impact on Research

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

US Department of Justice's 2013 Policy Shift on Medical Marijuana Enforcement

In the United States, many individual states permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Concurrently, national law classifies the substance in a category reserved for drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Analyze how this conflict between state and national legal frameworks creates significant obstacles for researchers wanting to scientifically investigate the potential health benefits of cannabis.

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