On January 12, 2017, the National Academy of Sciences released its lengthy report on “Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.” The report is too lengthy for me to have reviewed yet. A cursory check seems to show the report’s recognizing potential medical benefits of cannabis/marijuana, acknowledging the benefit of further study, and underlining the research hurdles caused by marijuana’s federally remaining a Schedule I controlled substance, which is the category for “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

The same day, Paul Armentano — the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — responded in part:

“The National Academy of Science’s conclusions that marijuana possesses established therapeutic utility for certain patients and that it possesses an acceptable safety profile when compared to those of other medications or recreational intoxicants are not surprising. This evidence has been available for some time, yet for decades marijuana policy in this country has largely been driven by rhetoric and emotion, not science and evidence…”

Government and non-government scientists may well prod further strides to rescheduling marijuana as a drug that may be prescribed by physicians, replacing the outdated rhetoric of politicians and government agency officials who try keeping marijuana as a Schedule I drug.