 In a significant step in moving towards federally removing cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, a state court has ruled that it is unconstitutional and ordered their state pharmacy board to remove it from state classification as a Schedule 1 drug.
The ruling took place Wednesday this week, over a lawsuit that was brought against the Nevada state Board of Pharmacy earlier this year. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, on behalf of a man named Antoine Poole, who was found guilty of a Class E felony for cannabis possession a year after cannabis was legalized in the state. Also included in the plaintiffs are the Cannabis Equity and Inclusion Community, who are a group that, among other things, work to help people get prior cannabis convictions cleared. Their lawsuit said that because the Nevada state Board of Pharmacy have kept cannabis on their list of Schedule 1 drugs, that this has caused a loophole where people are still being prosecuted for felonies like possession of cannabis with intent to sell, despite the fact that the state legalized cannabis possession and use. Co-plaintiff Antoine Poole’s past conviction had prevented him from “doing basic things,” such as getting the license he wanted to become a barber. The plaintiff lawsuit alleged that it is unconstitutional for the Nevada Board of Pharmacy to keep cannabis listed as a Schedule 1 drug while also being state legalized for having medicinal value, and recreational use. Being classified as a Schedule 1 drug means that cannabis is classified as having high potential for abuse or no accepted medical use. On Wednesday this week, District Judge Joe Hardy Jr. handed a win to the cannabis advocates. The Judge agreed with the plaintiff’s argument that cannabis does have an accepted legal medical use, because voters amended the state constitution in 2001 legalizing medical marijuana. He also ordered the Nevada state Board of Pharmacy to remove cannabis from their list of Schedule 1 drugs in the state. Judge Hardy said at his ruling, “The constitutional right to use marijuana upon the advice of a physician does establish that marijuana has an accepted medical use and treatment in the United States.” In the upcoming weeks the judge will also be ruling on on whether the state Board of Pharmacy should even have any regulatory authority over cannabis or not. If this ruling holds and the state Board of Pharmacy does deschedule cannabis in their state, this could be a significant step towards pushing the federal government to also deschedule cannabis on the federal level, or at least attempt to do so through the US Supreme Court in a similar manner to this case in Nevada. Comments are closed.
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