The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration maintained Thursday that marijuana will remain on the list of dangerous drugs and has no medical benefit.

Former governors of California and Rhode Island had requested that the DEA review its classification of the drug, which has been legalized in some form in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia.

But the DEA "concluded that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision".

Despite being fully legal in many states and decriminalized in many others, marijuana remains illegal under federal law.