Posted on 08/27/2013 8:15:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta admitted earlier this month that he had been wrong in his opposition to medical marijuana during the rollout for his documentary "Weed." Gupta reported on research that demonstrated the proven benefits of marijuana in treating neuropathic pain. Medical marijuana was the only drug that helped a 5-year-old girl with Dravet syndrome live without constant seizures. It calmed the constant hiccuping of a 19-year-old. Israelis use it to treat Parkinson's disease and other ailments.
Gupta took on the federal government's classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which has no accepted medical use but has a high potential for abuse. (Heroin also is a Schedule I drug. Methamphetamine is Schedule II.) Gupta now believes that classification is an outrage.
The doctor didn't say marijuana is all good. He cited research that found that regular use by teens can lead to a permanent decrease in IQ. But Gupta could find no documented case of a death from a marijuana overdose, whereas someone dies every 19 minutes from a prescription-drug overdose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 80,000 Americans die each year from excessive alcohol use.
Last week, Gupta's sentiments were echoed on the right when columnist Charles Krauthammer, a former psychiatrist, told Fox News that alcohol is much more harmful than marijuana. Quoth Krauthammer: "If I were starting a society from scratch and had to choose the intoxicant, I would outlaw alcohol and I'd allow marijuana." (Side note: But seeing as he can't reset the world, Krauthammer said he wouldn't legalize pot.)
Gupta's about-face might well signal a sea change in how this country looks at marijuana. Gupta told CNN's Erin Burnett that he used to look at medical marijuana advocates as "malingerers" who are "just looking to get high." But he came to see that cannabis not only helps severely ill people but also averts the dangerous side effects of more potent pharmaceuticals.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy announced Monday that his committee will hold a hearing Sept. 10 about the correct federal response to state laws legalizing the use of medical marijuana and, in the cases of Washington and Colorado, recreational use of marijuana.
Is President Barack Obama paying attention? Reporter Jessica Yellin asked White House spokesman Josh Earnest last week whether the administration was considering changing marijuana's Schedule I designation. Earnest responded with a long-winded no.
Before the American Bar Association recently, Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a speech that was supposed to signal big changes in the administration's approach to nonviolent drug offenders.
But he didn't mention marijuana enforcement, even though his Department of Justice has waged a ruthless war against medical marijuana dispensaries. Federal prosecutors have not only sent registered California dispensary operators to prison but also gone after their landlords, their bankers and contractors.
Listen to Gupta and Krauthammer and it's fair to surmise that marijuana is the least harmful of all controlled substances. It's less toxic than alcohol, which is legal. It's less lethal than prescription drugs.
So why is Washington still waging a war on weed?
utter BS.
Gupta knows better. The “medical” elements of pot have been in pill form for decades. this medicinal pot epiphany is nothing more that ratings whoremongering for himself. Whatever benefits of unprocessed are far outdone by the toxins of the smoking.
(translation for pot heads: dave’s not here maaaaaaan.)
it can.
it was.
it has been available for years.
this is just stoners watching cnn.
You assume smoking is the only way.
You smoke far less pot than cigarettes so that notion is way off base, not to mention that cigs have lots of chemical additives.
10th Amendment: learn it, live it, love it. Period.
newsflash it was done and is currently available. It just can’t be used recreationally, that is what potheads really want.
it’s hard to compare them...
you can drink a little with not much drunkeness
with today’s ganja it’s hard to smoke a little without being stoned...impossible for all but the most THC tolerant
but drunk versus stoned then drunk wins as most harmful hands down
and long term chronic use I’d give alcohol the winner as worse for you and society
but none of that means marihuana is harmless
it sure isn’t
but what I see mostly is chronic use produces lethargy, apathy and just reduced drive overall..impairs driving a little
which many here think is a not really a gateway to say heroin or crack but rather a gateway to becoming a progressive
yet here in Dixie where BOT and I live I know scores of pot smokers and all are gun toting God believing right wing heads..maybe a hair libertarian
but when I go to the Pacific Northwest coastal range then I see exactly what folks here hate about pot culture...it is freaky progressives
I do not like the confiscatory nature of the war on drugs nor the usurpation of rights and think many of the penalties fed wise are too severe
put me down as pro minor offense labeling for pot period
You clearly are unaware of the results of many recent studies.
Indeed many will use any excuse to justify use.
There are tests for MJ. If anything it’s OVER estimated in accidents
Because the test just detects its presence not a level.
On radio today some ad hustling a “medical marijuana” software outfit... not clear for what about it but mentions the number of states where it is “legal” and this stock would ... I don’t know. Beck show, with libertarian demographic.
REFG ticker symbol? Anyone?
You're so full of crap that this post smells. Let me drop some knowledge on you.
Alchohol is a CNS (Central Nervous System) depressant. It causes a lack of coordination and loss of motor skills. That's why drunks stumble, fall, drive all over the road and get in car accidents. Drink enough, your heart and lungs will shut down and you will die.
Marijuana is NOT a CNS depressant. Weed smokers do NOT stumble, fall, drive all over the road OR cause accidents... unless, of course, they are also drinking that demon alchohol. There is no "toxic limit" to the use of pot. It is physically impossible to ingest enough to hurt or kill yourself. Medical fact, kiddos.
Substitute facts and knowledge for your bigoted superstitions, and you might even learn something. Not that that's particularly high on your list of things "to do."
;-\
Oh, good! Haven’t had a pot ruckus on FR in awhile. I’m popping some popcorn.
Don’t forget that the WOD was started under Woodrow Wilson as a way to put more black men into southern prison plantations.
And the STILL vote for Democrats.
Hey they all look like most of my failed girlfriend’s moms. Something to that, LOL!
Not to get into it but genetic response to all kinds of scheduled agents is a subject of a lot of pharmaco- research and it isn’t good outcomes. Like Indians and alcohol.
I mean get an EBT, gubmint cheese, car loan, obamaphone and hit the streets to “clock”. Live better than about 50% of the youth unemployed and stay high along the way. Institutionalized effort to make it OK, and of course, a ready new revenue source to expand the State.
;-\
It would be hard to pick between Woodrow Wilson and Obama who did the most damage to the country, but I think I would pick Wilson (WOD, Income tax, 17th Amendment, Federal Reserve, Prohibition, and probably a number I am not aware of).
"Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.
He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."
At first nobody cared about drugs
Then they became illegal
Then they started to be tolerated
Now they will be legal
The problem will arise when they are mandatory
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