ALTERNATE ROUTES OF REFORMIST ACTIVISM: MEDICAL MARIJUANA AS A CASE STUDY OF INITIATIVES WITHIN AND BEYOND STATUTORILY PRESCRIBED CHANNELS

Abstract

This essay discusses the various legal and political initiatives undertaken by reformers seeking change in the laws on medical marijuana use. Part I reviews the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, and marijuana's status under the Act. Part II recounts the history of initiatives undertaken along the statutorily prescribed route for the Act's reform: citizens' petitions seeking administrative action, and court review of administrative decisions. Part III then surveys other fronts on which citizens and groups have attempted to make progress on the issue of medical marijuana, in the face of their fruitless efforts through the legislatively prescribed channels. While the outcomes of the current initiatives have not yet been determined, the conclusion addresses the significance of the controversy itself, as demonstration of the multiform power maintained by the people in our federalist democracy.