Answer:

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970– 21 U.S.C. §801-971.

            DRUG SCHEDULING CLASSIFICATIONS - The CSA classifies drugs into Schedules I through V.

A drug is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance when: (i) the drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse; (ii) the drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and (iii) there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. See 21 U.S.C. §812(b)(1)(A)-(C).

            To be classified on one of the other schedules, a drug must have a “currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” Id. § 812(b)(2)-(5).

            MARIJUANA DESIGNATED SCHEDULE I - The CSA lists marijuana in Schedule I. As a consequence of marijuana's classification in Schedule I, the CSA criminalizes marijuana's use and possession.

Krumm v. Holder 2009 WL 1563381, 1 (D.N.M.,2009). 

Schedule I drugs may be obtained and used lawfully only by doctors who submit a detailed research protocol for approval by the Food and Drug Administration and who agree to abide by strict record keeping and storage rules. See 21 C.F.R. §§ 1301.33, 1301.42.  Presently, only the University of Mississippi has a federally sanctioned medical grow facility and only a handful of patients still receive.

1. Nixon signs CSA into law with marijuana placed in Schedule I.
2. Marijuana originally to be temporarily designated in Schedule I substance subject to reclassification after further studies by FDA

            -The Schaeffer Report commissioned by Nixon found that cannabis did not belong in Schedule I.