Judge Kimberly Mueller, who made history by granting the first extended hearings in federal court on the question of whether cannabis’ continued listing under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, has closed that hearing by ruling that the plant’s Schedule I status is constitutional. Judge Mueller’s written opinion will be made available online by the end of the month.

“At some point in time,” said Judge Mueller from the bench at the April 15 status hearing in the case of US v. Schweder et al, “a court may decide this status to be unconstitutional. But this is not the court and not the time.” The Obama appointee then gave a preview of the main points of her written opinion.

As predicted by this blog, she decided to rule on the merits of the case, disregarding the insistence of federal prosecutors that she dismiss the motion for lack of standing by the defendants. For her standard of review, she chose to apply the “rational basis test” to the defendants’ Equal Protection challenge to cannabis’ Schedule I status, the least stringent standard of review available. Under that standard, said Judge Mueller, “the statute passes muster. The questions raised by the defense are for Congress to resolve.”

Significantly, Judge Mueller said that she found witnesses for the defense and prosecution equally credible, indicating that if she had applied a more stringent standard of review then she may very well have ruled for the defense instead.

“While I respect Judge Mueller’s courage in holding this hearing and considering the issues,” says Leaf co-founder Chris Conrad, who also testified as an expert in the hearings, “I clearly disagree with her opinion and cannot help but feel disappointed. The American people deserve better. Real harms will continue to be done to our people as a result of the DEA’s misclassification of marijuana as a schedule 1 drug. I do not think her ruling lives up to the facts offered in this hearing nor the hope offered by the US Supreme Court itself through its Raich Decision, ten long years ago. The legal defense team did an admirable job of presenting their case, and it is both my hope and my expectation that her unfortunate decision today will be reversed on appeal and, if need be, by the Supreme Court itself. In the meantime, join me in calling on Congress to take action by adopting the CARERS act as an initial step in the reform process. Thank you.”

Assistant US Attorneys Samuel Wong and Gregory Broderick declined to comment.