California Judge Refuses to Re-Schedule Marijuana

The federal judge who held an "unprecedented" hearing on the constitutionality of marijuana's classification on Schedule 1 of the CSA has ruled that there is no constitutional violation.  There apparently is not yet a written opinion for us to pore over.

As I've noted before, this isn't unexpected.  There are formidable legal and practical hurdles to courts who want to overrule agency determinations, and so long as any evidence supports the government's determination, it's unlikely to be overruled.  Still, it was an amazingly good effort by the lawyers and raised a lot of great issues.  Sounds like marijuana advocates will take it up to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

NORML's reaction to the ruling seems to me to be dead right:

    "We applaud Judge Mueller for having the courage to hear this issue and provide it the careful consideration it deserves,” said Paul Armentano, NORML’s deputy director. “While we are disappointed with this ruling, it changes little. We always felt this had to ultimately be decided by the 9th Circuit and we have an unprecedented record for the court to consider.”

ADD:  Reading the vitriolic comments on some web sites about Judge Mueller's decision, it seems necessary to remind people that despite what it sometimes looks like, U.S. judges are not given carte blanche to overturn any laws they personally find unsupported by evidence, or which interfere with notions of "liberty."  Her decision is correct as a matter of law.  That law can be changed either by the Administration (which has been delegated power by Congress) or by Congress, but it can't be changed by one unelected woman in a black robe in Sacramento.