The incredibly destructive federal war on marijuana may be about to end in a major way. It won't disappear entirely, but even so we may soon see the beginning of the inevitable end to the federal War On Weed. If so, it will become a major part of President Barack Obama's legacy -- even though he's actually the third president in a row who admitted to using marijuana at some point in his life. Obviously the scare stories couldn't all be true, if three presidents' lives weren't totally ruined by their recreational use of what is a fairly benign plant.

The reason for this optimism was the news that the Drug Enforcement Agency has just sent a letter [PDF file] in response to a group of senators who, last year, formally asked the agency if it would consider rescheduling marijuana on the "Controlled Substances" list. The D.E.A. has now responded that it will make a decision on the matter by summertime (sometime during "the first half of 2016"). More on the technical aspects of what is being considered in a moment. But first, a little history is necessary to put the War On Weed into proper context.

The current federal legal framework -- what some snidely call "The War On (Some) Drugs" -- was created during the presidency of Richard Nixon, with the creation of the D.E.A. The scientific consensus (even back then) was that marijuana wasn't actually all that dangerous a drug. An extensive report commissioned by the federal government at the time concluded:

In this Chapter, we have carefully considered the spectrum of social and legal policy alternatives. On the basis of our findings, discussed in previous Chapters, we have concluded that society should seek to discourage use, while concentrating its attention on the prevention and treatment of heavy and very heavy use. The Commission feels that the criminalization of possession of marihuana for personal is socially self-defeating as a means of achieving this objective.

. . .

The Commission sincerely hopes that the tone of cautious restraint sounded in this Report will be perpetuated in the debate which will follow it.

. . .

Considering the range of social concerns in contemporary America, marihuana does not, in our considered judgment, rank very high. We would deemphasize marihuana as a problem.

The existing social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm engendered by the use of the drug. To replace it, we have attempted to design a suitable social policy, which we believe is fair, cautious and attuned to the social realities of our time.

The "cautious restraint" was notably absent from the debate, however. The legal policy continued to be dramatically out of proportion to the problem. There was a reason for this, and it was an ugly and political one. Here is top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman, in his own words, on why the War On (Some) Drugs was so drastically applied by his boss:

You want to know what this was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black people, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

That's what the motivations were for the initial classification of marijuana under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Plain and simple. The scientists were ignored. Reasonable public policy suggestions were laughed at. There was a clear ulterior political motive, and as a result marijuana received the insane classification as a "Schedule I" drug. Here are the classification criteria (from the text of the law) for all five of these schedules, for reference:

(1) Schedule I.
    (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
    (B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
    (C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

(2) Schedule II.
    (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
    (B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
    (C) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.

(3) Schedule III.
    (A) The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules I and II.
    (B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
    (C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

(4) Schedule IV.
    (A) The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule III.
    (B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
    (C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule III.

(5) Schedule V.
    (A) The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV.
    (B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
    (C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV.

Now, which most accurately applies to marijuana? A careful reading would lead to the conclusion that marijuana should -- at worst -- be a Schedule III substance. A good argument could be made for Schedules IV or V, as well. Instead, marijuana was classified Schedule I, where it has remained to this day. To put this in perspective, here is a partial list of drugs on the Schedule II list: cocaine, opium, amphetamine (Dexedrine), Demerol, methamphetamine, Nembutal, PCP, and secobarbital (Seconal). Yes, cocaine, crystal meth, and PCP are all deemed less dangerous than marijuana.

That is patently insane. But that has indeed been official federal drug policy, from Nixon's time to Obama's. The policy is so insane it is hard to adequately count the ways it makes no sense whatsoever. For starters, the federal government itself has -- for decades -- provided a very limited number of glaucoma sufferers with prescription marijuana. The left hand of the federal government insists there is "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States," while the right hand provides marijuana as medicine. Insanity!

In the past few years, this has become more and more evident. Half the states now allow marijuana (in some form or another) to be prescribed as medicine. Half! And yet the federal government has ignored this new reality. Four states have now gone ahead and legalized recreational use of marijuana, and recreational use is now legal in the federal District of Columbia. This election year, many other states will likely vote to legalize through citizen ballot initiatives. All while the federal government insists that marijuana is more dangerous than crystal meth. No states have yet legalized crystal meth, for understandable reasons. Most opiates are in lesser schedules than marijuana, even though they're killing people all over America. There is yet to be a single overdose death from marijuana recorded in the entire history of medicine.

When he was running for president the first time, Barack Obama made a campaign promise that he would provide "science-based" government policy. This was to contrast him with George W. Bush, especially on global warming, but it was a sweeping promise to listen to the scientists and give their data more weight than the political arguments. Obama clearly stated he wanted to "restore scientific integrity to government" and ensure that scientific data are "never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda." Pretty clear words, but some of us have been calling on Obama to make good on this promise on the subject of marijuana for a long time now -- from his first days in office, in fact.

There is now nothing to stop Obama from making good on that promise. He has no more political campaigns to run. The D.E.A. itself is no longer run by some fire-breathing drug-warrior holdover, and now actually only has an "Acting Administrator" (which, one assumes, meant he didn't have to face Senate confirmation). This means he may be easily replaced by the next president anyway. And, unlike the political position that the Obama administration has taken up until now, Congress does not have to be involved in the decision to reschedule marijuana. The power rests with the Attorney General, in fact. A simple signature could change the federal classification, without requiring an act of Congress.

It is completely indefensible to keep marijuana on Schedule I. The boldest move would be to eliminate it from the list altogether and move marijuana to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, where it truly belongs. But descheduling it might be too big a leap, all at once. That might have to wait for the next president. Still, rescheduling marijuana (to Schedule III, at a bare minimum) would instantly change not only the debate surrounding legalization, but it would change the entire federal government's outlook towards marijuana. It would be a lot easier for doctors to get the necessary approval to conduct serious medical research, for instance. It would move marijuana to a much lower priority than fighting the scourge of heroin and crystal meth, for the entire Justice Department.

Rescheduling marijuana is the right thing to do. It is long overdue. The only reason why it was put in Schedule I in the first place was to allow Richard Nixon to get re-elected. That is an absolutely indefensible reason to put it there in the first place, and it is inconceivable why it has never since been changed. The War On Weed has been a political football for far too long, and far too many millions of Americans have paid a very steep price for this political dirty trick. It is time for a science-based federal marijuana policy, and there is absolutely nothing stopping President Obama from making good on his campaign promise before summer arrives.

Please end this war, President Obama. Please end the insanity.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant