On Wednesday, a federal judge in Sacramento upheld the constitutionality of a 1970 federal law classifying marijuana as a dangerous drug on the same level as heroin, saying it is up to Congress to determine whether it should be reclassified.
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller was the first judge in decades to examine marijuana's inclusion on the list, the Los Angeles Times reports. She held a five-day hearing on the matter last year, in response to a pretrial defense motion in a case pitting the federal government against alleged marijuana growers.
Mueller's decision cannot be appealed until the criminal case against the alleged growers is closed, but some pro-marijuana groups are just happy that the judge held the hearing at all. "We applaud Judge Mueller for having the courage to hear this issue and provide it the careful consideration it deserves,” Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told the Times. "While we are disappointed with this ruling, it changes little. We always felt this had to ultimately be decided by the 9th Circuit, and we have an unprecedented record for the court to consider."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly TuttleFeature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitionsFeature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
