Controversy over cannabis policy originates from the 1970 federal decision to classify cannabis as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Schedule I drugs are deemed to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. The current status of cannabis legalization in the United States rests upon a chasm between federal and individual state cannabis policies. In June 2018 Senator Elizabeth Warren sponsored Senate Bill 3032 that would exempt most marijuana-related activities from the CSA if the sale and distribution is allowed under state or tribal law.
Although synthesized versions of some cannabis components, including the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), have been rescheduled and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat specific illnesses (such as childhood epilepsy) the plant as a whole has not.