Shane Pennington Interviewed About Marijuana's Schedule 1 Drug Classification by the DEA

Jun 9, 2021

Despite the fact that medical marijuana is legal in 36 states, the DEA has classified cannabis as a Schedule I drug since 1972. VS counsel Shane Pennington is working on a high-profile case that could make the federal government reconsider how it classifies marijuana — Sisley v. DEA, No. 20-71433 

Shane was interviewed by national media about getting marijuana out of the Schedule 1 classification and how that "could lead to things like insurance coverage on medical purchases since companies often look to federal law for guidance."

“The fact that that marijuana is in Schedule 1, and therefore it is a violation of federal law to use it, possess it, manufacture it, distribute it, has bearing on risk assessments and it has bearing on what insurance companies are willing to cover. In order to have it currently accepted for medical use in the United States under DEA’s test, a substance has to have a repeatable chemistry and that's tough when you have a plant, especially one as complex and sort of variant as or varying as cannabis is." 

Watch the interview with Shane and Betty Aldworth, communications and policy expert with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies