Schedule I

Schedule I is the most restrictive category under the federal Controlled Substances Act, reserved for substances judged to have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use.

Marijuana, meaning cannabis above the hemp threshold, has been in this schedule since the act was passed, alongside substances such as heroin and LSD. Placement restricts manufacture, distribution and possession, and it complicates research because studies require special registration and supply. The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp meeting the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC definition from the schedule entirely.

The hemp carve-out is the reason hemp-derived CBD can be sold as an ordinary commodity while cannabis above the threshold remains federally controlled regardless of state law. Proposals to move marijuana to a less restrictive schedule would change the landscape for cannabis but not the separate status of hemp. For a reader, the practical point is that the legal category depends on measured THC content, which is one more reason the certificate of analysis matters.