Marijuana on Trial: Who Decides?

This Essay addresses the tension between Federal and State level regulation of marijuana. Nearly a half century ago, under the Controlled Substances Act, Congress classified Marijuana as a Schedule One substance. Today, possession of marijuana, outside of limited research exceptions, remains a federal crime. Yet that has not stopped marijuana to be legalized, for medical and recreational reasons, in States across the country.

As States legalize marijuana questions will remain because of the current Federal ban. Should banks lend money to the cannabis business, or are they putting themselves at risk? Uncertainty in the laws regulating marijuana use and sale will remain in the near future as State voters fight against Federal law.