Excitement is growing as the Drug Enforcement Administration decides whether or not to reschedule cannabis, which it’s expected to do in the next few months. But as Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Law, explains in a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, federal rescheduling won’t end prohibition. That’s because it won’t change state drug laws.
“Completely legalizing marijuana in the United States would require the actions of both the federal government and every state government,” Chemerinsky noted. Absolutely right! Did you know that, here in Washington State, weed is still listed under Schedule I of our state’s Controlled Substances Act? I-502 legalized the possession, manufacture, and distribution of pot simply by creating exceptions to the CSA…