Criminal Justice

1. Your essay should focus on the following:

– What was/is the intended purpose of the Controlled Substances Act 1970
– How and why are drugs classified/schedules
– What are the medical and legal issues surrounding rescheduling marijuana
– How and who enforces CSA regulations

2. For this essay you are to address the specific questions listed above. Outside research is encouraged.

3. COVER PAGE AND REFERENCE TIMES NEW ROMAN 12 FONT

4. NO PLAGIARISM

ANSWER

The Controlled Substances Act 1970

Controlled substances are drugs and chemicals regulated by the government due to their effects on public health. Under the Controlled Substance Act, these drugs are classified into five schedules. Schedule I drugs have more significant abuse probability, while Schedule V has the lowest abuse probability (Hartunian, 2018). Additionally, the Controlled Substance Act entails information on listed drug products. The 91st United States Congress conceded the Controlled Substance Act. Thus was Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970.

The main aim of the Controlled Substance Act was to change the production, distribution, selling and use of controlled drugs. Distributors, manufacturers, sellers of the controlled drugs have to be licensed by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). DEA is offered the mandate of enforcing the Act on the national level. During the establishment of the controlled Substances Act of 1970, congress had made various findings and declarations. Most of the drugs included in this Act had legitimate and valid medical use and are essential in maintaining the general well-being of the Americans (Lampe and Attorney, 2019). The unlawful manufacture, selling, possession, supply and inappropriate use of the controlled drugs have a detrimental and extensive impact on the well-being and overall health of the people.

A more significant portion of the traffic in controlled drugs flows in connection with overseas and federal market. Occurrences of traffic that are not an vital part of the national or foreign stream, such as local supply, manufacture and possession, lead a direct and substantial impact on federal trade since the controlled substances are transported after manufacturing. They also found out that the controlled substances produced and distributed interstate cannot be differentiated from those produced and distributed.

Registration of these various bodies with DEA aims to form a closed system for distributing controlled drugs. This closed scheme has allowed tracing the controlled substance from the primary manufacture to the last stage of distributing to the patient. Therefore, the Controlled Substances Act positions all drugs so that they are regulated under the existing state law into one among the five schedules.

The positioning is based on the probability of abuse, medical use, and dependence liability. The Controlled Substance Act is a tool for drugs to be regulated to transfer between schedules or remove from the control (Martin et al., 2020). The Controlled Substance Act can arraign violators of these laws at both local and global levels. This has enabled the government to protect the general public from potentially addictive and dangerous drugs.

How and Why Are Drugs Classified/Scheduled

Various kinds of drugs have been available to individuals today. The drugs include illegal and legal drugs that people often buy and use regardless of their strength, side effects and safety after consumption. The U.S. government has attempted to manage the consumption of these drugs through controlled abuse legislation that governs the distribution and availability of these drugs (Lopez and Tadi, 2020). A significant way the government has implemented the Controlled Substance is through drug schedules used in drug management. The drug schedules have classified drugs to help law enforcement and the public understand the potential effects of using them.

The classification and scheduling of drugs have been an effective way through which the government categorize and organize different drugs based on their tendency to be potentially harmful or addictive to the general public. Substances, drugs, and certain chemicals are utilized to manufacture drugs categorized into five discrete schedules or categories on the basis of how the drugs are suitable for medical use, reliance potential, and drug misuse (Beletsky, 2020). Therefore, scheduling drugs refers to the likelihood of a drug to cause potential harm or substance use disorder and the accepted medical use.

The abuse rate has been a significant determinate factor in the scheduling and categorizing of drugs. For instance, Schedule I drugs have a high potential for misuse with a high possibility of creating physical dependence and severe psychological impact. The abuse potential decreases as the Schedule lowers. Schedule V drugs entail drugs that have the lowest potential for abuse. The drugs are scheduled regarding the Controlled Substance Act, which offers a comprehensive listing of all controlled substances.

According to the Controlled Substances Act, each drug is classified based on the factors of its potential abuse, current and historical patterns of abuse, scientific evidence that proves the side effects, recent scientific research and knowledge associated with the drug and the risk of user’s dependence and possible danger to public health (Lopez and Tadi, 2020). Schedule 1 drugs, chemicals and substances are drugs with a high probable for misuse and are not accepted for medical purpose. Some of the Schedule I drugs entail marijuana, heroin, ecstasy, peyote and methaqualone. Schedule II drugs are substances of high probability for abuse, with their consumption leading to physical dependence or psychological impacts. These drugs are presumed to be dangerous. These include cocaine, fentanyl, Ritalin, Adderall, oxycodone, methadone, methamphetamine and Demerol.

Schedule III drugs are considered substances with moderate or low potential of psychological and physical dependence (Gabay, 2013). These include testosterone, steroids, ketamine and codeine. Schedule IV are drugs with a low threat of addiction or potential exploitation. Some of these drugs include Tramadol, Ambien, Ativan, Valium, Darvon, Soma and Xanax. Schedule V substances are defined as drugs that have less potential for abuse than other drugs since they have limited capacities of varying narcotics. They are normally utilized for antitussive, antidiarrheal and pain-relieving purposes. The law enforcement agencies have used these schedules to clearly understand the potential risk and side effects of a drug (Lopez and Tadi, 2020). These schedules have also been used to determine the consequences for illegal production, selling and use of different types of drugs. For instance, an individual convicted for selling Schedule I drug would get a harsher sentence than one found guilty of selling Schedule IV drugs.

Medical and Legal Issues Surrounding Rescheduling Marijuana

Rescheduling marijuana means removing it from Schedule 1 to a lower level in the list of controlled substances. The debate to reschedule marijuana has been faced with legal and medical issues that have influenced the law and endorsement of this practice. Before marijuana acquired a bad status as a substance of abuse, it was considered a folk drug in different cultures. Decades later, the drug disappeared for medical purposes and was outlawed in most states (Sacco, 2014). Medical users and manufacturers using marijuana had to comply with the burdensome procedures of registration.

One of the significant legal issues is the lack of state research programs that allow marijuana to be obtained through legal channels. The medical necessity of marijuana has not been acknowledged in most states. Therefore, although some state laws have allowed the medical use of marijuana, rescheduling cannot be implemented without the federal government’s cooperation. Thus, the marijuana regulations in more than 20 states have less practice impact on the rescheduling of marijuana. Lack of patient interest has also influenced the rescheduling of marijuana. As long as marijuana rests as a federal government’s Schedule I, patients have denied its use for medical purposes due to the prosecution involved.

How and who enforces CSA regulations

The CSA (Controlled Substance Act) is a legal structure that the government used to restrict lawful manufacturing, possession and distribution of controlled drugs (Beletsky, 2020). The CSA regulations are enforced through proper scheduling, which controls manufacturing, storage, transportation, distribution and handling of controlled substances. Per the CSA regulations, anyone that handles the controlled substances has to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration (Gilbert, 2010). The CSA regulations allow criminal sanctions for illicit manufacture, possession and distribution of controlled substances. The CSA has set various offences linked to the listed drugs and prohibited acts linked to registrants that manufacture and dispense the controlled substances.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice, enforces the CSA regulations. The Drug Enforcement Administration is the federal agency is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the CSA. DEA has the authority to designate a drug for control through rule making. The DEA ensures that all the registrants have complete and accurate records of all the controlled drugs’ transactions, ensure that the controlled substances are safeguarded and securely stored, and periodically file reports with DEA under regulations (Rojas, 2018). Additionally, the proceeding to remove, add or change drug schedule may be initiated by the DEA. Therefore, the Drug Enforcement Administration relies on the CSA regulations to protect the general public from the repercussions of controlled substance abuse.

References

Beletsky, L. (2020). Controlled substances act at 50: A blueprint for reform. Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper, (370-2020).

Gabay, M. (2013). The federal controlled substances act: schedules and pharmacy registration. Hospital pharmacy, 48(6), 473.

Gabay, M. (2014). Federal controlled substances act: dispensing requirements, electronic prescriptions, and fraudulent prescriptions. Hospital pharmacy, 49(3), 244-246.

Gilbert Jr, J. A. (2010). DEA Regulation of Controlled Substances And Listed Chemicals. Food & Drug L.J., 65, 623.

Hartunian, J. (2018). Getting Back on Schedule: Fixing the Controlled Substances Act. Alb. Gov’t L. Rev., 12, 199.

Lampe, J. R., & Attorney, L. (2019). The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): a legal overview for the 116th Congress. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-30.

Lopez, M. J., & Tadi, P. (2020). Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Scheduling. StatPearls [Internet].

Martin Diaz, C., Hernandez, J., Neubauer, L., & Guizan Corrales, E. (2020). Controlled Substance Validation.

Rojas, F. G. T. (2018). Assessment of the Enforcement and Regulatory Impact on Cannabinoids with the Recent Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Ordinance Over Cannabidiol (CBD) and the New Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Controlled Substance Act (CSA) Scheduling (Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia).

Sacco, L. N. (2014). Drug enforcement in the United States: History, policy, and trends (Vol. 7). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.