for the rescheduling of cannabis. The petition sought to remove marijuana and its cannabinoids from Schedules I and II of the Controlled Substance Act on the grounds that the drug lacks the potential for abuse that warrants inclusion there. The DEA must by law forward all petitions which advocate the rescheduling of a drug to the Department of Health and Human Services for further review. By proceeding to do so, the DEA implicitly judged that "sufficient grounds" exist for the rescheduling of cannabis. In 1999, Gettman speculated that if removed from Schedule I, cannabis could be: Regulated as a Schedule III or IV prescription drug, similarly to ketamine or anabolic steroids; Regulated as a Schedule V over-the-counter substance; or Removed from the Schedules and regulated similarly to alcoholic beverages or tobacco. However, upon reviewing the HHS evaluation, the DEA concluded in 2001 that adequate evidence did not exist to necessitate the change. In response, Gettman brought the case before the US Court of Appeals. The court denied the case judicial review because Gettman, not a medical cannabis patient, was unharmed by the DEA restricting access to the drug. Gettman explained that apparently "only those who are actually injured by DEA's refusal to reschedule cannabis have standing to submit DEA's potential actions in this area to judicial review by the federal courts" and organized a coalition to meet this requirement for a subsequent petition. In October 2002, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (headed by Gettman and composed of an agglomeration of organizations) filed another petition before the DEA. In April 2002, the DEA formally accepted the proposal, which sought federal recognition of the medicinal value of cannabis, reclassification of the drug, and the establishment of a legal framework for the production and distribution of medical cannabis. In doing so, the DEA acknowledged sufficient merit in the evidence presented in the petition, which focused on accepted medicinal value rather than relative harm, to warrant additional review rather than dismissal. In 2004, the DEA referred the petition to the Department of Health and Human Services for a full-scale evaluation where, as of May 2006, it remains. The Cannabis Column, a longstanding column on High Times magazine, tracks the progress of this petition. As of September 16, 2009, the column has eclipsed fifty issues. Studies Marijuana Production in the United States In 2006 Gettman wrote a special report, entitled "Marijuana Production in the United