The Controlled Substances Act of 1970

 "The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): A Legal Overview for the 119th Congress." Congress.gov, Library of Congress, 18 September 2025, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45948.

    The article titled, “The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): A Legal Overview for the 119th Congress”, that was written by the Congressional Research Service in my own summarization discusses  the 1970 controlled substances act, which is one of if not the most important historical events that has affected the laws surrounding cannabis, making it federally illegal in the entire United States of Americans. This law also affected nearly any of the “controlled substances”  today which range from cold medicine to methamphetamine. This act as quoted by the article is stated to, “To regulate certain drugs and other substances that are deemed to pose a risk of abuse and dependence.” This in short was to try to stop mass use of substances of all kind. This wasn’t the first law surrounding cannabis in the US, it was the second with the first being the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act however, this is the first law that outright banned Marijuana on a federal level. This law also introduced a classing system to all controlled substances in the US with levels 1 through 5 with 1 being the most illegal and 5 being the least with the article stating, “Controlled substances subject to the CSA are divided into categories known as Schedules I through V based on their medical utility and their potential for abuse and dependence. Substances considered to pose the greatest risk to the public health and safety are subject to the most stringent controls and sanctions. A lower schedule number corresponds to greater restrictions, so substances in Schedule I are subject to the strictest controls, while substances in Schedule V are subject to the least strict.” Cannabis since the CSA was put into affect was a schedule one substance up until current times although current president Donald Trump has been discussing the possibility of the drug getting changed to a level 3 substance in the upcoming months or years at of September, 12th, 2025. The article also talks about how there has been many pieces of legislation to try to remove Marijuana from the CSA in recent years such as the MORE Act and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. The article also further dives into the growing split between state and federal law of marijuana with an excerpt of the article stating, “The CDC reports that as of February 2024, 24 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia have passed laws removing prohibitions on medical and recreational marijuana use by adults age 21 or older.224 Thirty-eight states, three territories, and D.C. have passed laws permitting medical use of marijuana; another nine states authorize medical use of cannabis derivatives, such as cannabidiol (CBD), that contain low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).” If the scheduling of marijuana got changed a few of the main changes coming from that are the fact that it could be federally legal for prescribed medical use, as well as businesses surrounding marijuana would be eligible for tax deductions on federal tax filings. Overall this article sums up how this act still affects us today and still remains the most prevalent law surrounding legalized marijuana and I was quite suprised at how unbiased the whole article was given that it came from the government and how clear the information was on not just my topic but overall with many addressed items such at the scheduling system and the opioid crisis although laws surrounding marijuana were a large majority of the article due to many attempts and possible in process law changes cannabis is facing in the current time. I also believe that this source is credible due to the fact that it is written for the government by the government. This article also opened my eyes to many other changes that had been attempted for the laws against cannabis in recent history.