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1 1 (December 6, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejpx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Recent Developments in Marijuana Law Updated December 6, 2022 Marijuana and other products derived from the cannabis plant are regulated under both federal and state law. In recent years, a significant divide has developed between federal and state regulation. Under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), marijuana is strictly regulated and may not legally be used for medical or recreational purposes. In contrast, a substantial majority of states have relaxed state law prohibitions on medical or recreational marijuana. The fall of 2022 saw several key developments in federal and state marijuana regulation. In October 2022, President Joe Biden granted clemency to certain low-level federal marijuana offenders and directed the Attorney General to review the status of marijuana under federal law. While some observers consider President Biden's grant of clemency to represent a significant change in federal marijuana policy, as a legal matter it did little to alter the growing disparity between federal and state marijuana regulation. Then, in November 2022, voters in five states considered ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana at the state level, two of which were adopted. Congress also subsequently enacted the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, which aims to facilitate research on marijuana and cannabidiol (CBD). Legislators and commentators have proposed a number of other legal reformis that would alter federal marijuana regulation and potentially reduce the divergence between federal and state law. This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of the legal status of marijuana under federal and state law and then discusses recent developments including the grant of clemency for federal marijuana possession offenses, November 2022 state ballot initiatives related to marijuana, and the enactment of federal legislation to expand marijuana and CBD research. The Sidebar concludes with an overview of selected legislative proposals related to marijuana. The Legal Status of Marijuana Under federal law, unless a statutory exemption applies, most cannabis and cannabis derivatives are classified as marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance under the CSA. (The CSA generally uses an alternative spelling, marihuana, but this Sidebar uses the more common spelling.) The CSA imposes a comprehensive regulatory framework on certain drugs and other substances-whether medical or recreational, legally or illicitly distributed-that pose a significant risk of abuse and dependence. The framework broadly aims to protect public health from those risks while ensuring that patients have access to pharmaceutical controlled substances for medical purposes. To advance those goals, the CSA (1) Congressional Research Service https://crsreports. congress.gov LSB10859 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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