Fri., Aug. 12, 2016

DEA won’t reclassify marijuana

An employee places marijuana for sale into glass containers at The Station, a retail and medical cannabis dispensary, in Boulder, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. The DEA announced Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016 that the Obama administration will keep marijuana on the list of the most dangerous drugs, despite growing popular support for legalization, but will allow more research into its possible medical benefits. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

The federal agency in charge of arresting people for drugs says it won’t reclassify marijuana as something that has medical uses. In a notice to Gov. Jay Inslee published Thursday in the Federal Record, the Drug Enforcement Administration turned down a request to take marijuana out of Schedule I, a classification for dangerous drugs that have no medical use. Also in that classification are heroin and peyote. Inslee’s predecessor, Chris Gregoire, had asked the federal government in 2011 to reclassify marijuana as a drug that can have medical uses./Jim Camden, SR. More here.

Posted Aug. 12, 2016, 11:05 a.m.