Posted on 08/14/2016 5:36:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
For the first time since 1988, both major parties' nominees -- Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump -- say that they have never smoked or experimented with marijuana (without inhaling).
President Obama has been open about having used marijuana and other drugs in his youth, yet his administration has taken insufficient steps to inject some sanity into the federal government's approach to marijuana policy. In 2008, the Obama campaign talked about keeping federal prosecutors from going after medical marijuana dispensaries in states that have legalized medical use such as California. To the contrary, in his first term especially, Obama's Department of Justice was merciless on medical marijuana providers, as well as users. If you hoped for big change, get over it. Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it would not change marijuana's classification from the Schedule I drug status it has held since 1970.
Drug Enforcement Administration acting head Chuck Rosenberg explained in a letter that the administration will expand research into marijuana's medicinal benefits, but marijuana will remain a Schedule I drug because it "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment" in the United States, is not safe for use under medical supervision and has a high abuse potential.
Rosenberg understands it makes little sense to many Americans that marijuana should share the same schedule as heroin. (And, I would add, there have been no known human lethal overdoses from marijuana. The harm from marijuana is less dramatic, but real; chronic usage among teens and young adults can reduce the chances that they will marry, have children or graduate from college.) "It is best not to think of drug scheduling as an escalating 'danger' scale," Rosenberg wrote, and better to focus on medical and scientific evidence.
Here's the problem: There is no evidence that the DEA recognizes. For decades, the government effectively prohibited large-scale studies of marijuana's medicinal properties. That hasn't stopped Americans from finding out for themselves. "Talk to some patients," countered Marijuana Majority founder Tom Angell. "My mom has MS. It has medical value, believe me."
Californians legalized medical marijuana in 1996. Since then, many of us have seen friends with cancer overcome nausea and diminished appetite because they had access to marijuana. Acquaintances credit marijuana with controlling their epileptic seizures. I've heard from many medical marijuana users who believe weed enabled them to use fewer opioids and other potentially lethal pain medications. It's amazing the DEA can argue that marijuana is not safe under medical supervision when there have been no marijuana lethal overdoses, but opioid overdoses are the leading cause of accidental deaths in America.
Three years ago, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on marijuana's efficacy in controlling neuropathic pain for some patients and helping children who suffered from constant seizures. If Washington politicians truly cared about helping people in need, then the Democrat in the White House and the Republicans in Congress would have enacted legislation like the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act right then and there.
In saying he has to follow the legal criteria for Schedule I, Rosenberg is ignoring the gulf between legal requirements and reality. He says there is no currently accepted medical use in treatment, yet the government has barely researched medical use. Nobody believes what the DEA says, said Angell.
I don't think prohibition works, and I expect to vote for the California ballot measure to legalize recreational adult use in November. Still, I readily acknowledge that people of goodwill can stand on either side of this issue.
When it comes to medical use, however, the federal government should get out of the way and let people decide what works for them and the people they love. And, really, how can drug warriors who want to make it harder to prescribe opioids also want to make pain-alleviating medical marijuana off-limits? There is only one reason to cling to the status quo -- willful institutional blindness. The worst part is, Obama knows better.
And, really, how can drug warriors who want to make it harder to prescribe opioids also want to make pain-alleviating medical marijuana off-limits?
Smoking dope to escape the reality of the universe and our emotions is to deny our humanity.
the salient point is should the usage of marijuana be punishable by law...
Dope smokers belong in prison or in padded rooms.
No, it’s not.
You purposely ignored the salient point because it goes contrary to your lifestyle.
I don’t get it how anyone can smoke that stinking stuff
It begins with smoking that stinking stuff, and after their brains become addled, they think they have the right to smoke that stinking stuff, then as brain is further addled with little cheese-like holes, they think they have the right to convince kids to do same, and then to sell it and so on. Finally ending in full-blown libertarian drugmentalism.
Support your argument for WHY all hallucinogenic properties be removed from therapeutic dose.
OMG, someone might feel groovy while trying to feel better.
I have the 50th anniversary edition of Ben Hur staring Charleston Heston and sometimes I might watch it again.
Alcohol drinkers belong in prison or in padded rooms.
Alcohol is bad, therefore drugs are good.
it IS a gateway drug and almost every single druggie we admit to the hospital has weed in their system...
ambien is not considered to be addictive but just try stopping it..
I personally don't care what you do....
but I'm suing you for everything you or your family has if your drug use affects me and mine..
in your car....in your boat...in your work....
Alcohol is the prime number one gateway drug, not even a close second. Join reality people.
I think getting high or drunk is dumb, but cannabis is no where near the danger alcohol is. Alcohol has killed millions, and destroyed many millions more.
For all you railing against cannabis you are really too misinformed to have an intelligent conversation with.
And cannabis is not addictive, people can bond to it (become dependant on it to get through day or at stressful times) but people bond to lots of things like caffeine, sugar, sex, shopping, drugs, porn, their blankie.....endly list. Some of these thins people bond to are harmful or can be harmful when used excessively.
I never said that. You are not very smart are you?
I know now you come back with something like, “I am insulting you because I can’t have intelligent discussion...crap” but I am just going by what you have written so far in this thread and you don’t come across as very swift nor do you seem to want to have a conversation based on reality.
Alcohol other than drinking it really really moderately is very damaging and very stupid.
Cannabis when used excessively is just about as stupid but no where as damaging to the person using it or to others they effect.
Take another slug of you booze and poison filled cola before replying huh?!
There are numerous negative effects associated with cannabis. It reduces initiative and sexual drive; can lead to hallucinations and paranoia; and has some known teratogenetic effects in males. That said, none of these effects come close to the known effects of alcohol.
Alcohol is the number one teratogen in the world. The effects of alcohol on a developing baby are indisputable and cause permanent, irreparable damage. Add in the costs from violence and drunk driving and no drug comes close to the danger of alcohol. While the comparison gives no reason to legalize marijuana, it certainly shows that our system shows no logic when considering the issue.
One of the biggest hurdles is that there is no test to prove someone is high at a given time. THC remains in the blood stream long after the high and there is no discernible relationship to a given level. We all know people who use pot for recreation and are reasonable, productive citizens; h however, few people want to get on a plane whose pilot just smoked pot.
Either way, the fact is that the federal government legally outlawed alcohol by amending the Constitution. Without arguing the merits of such a law, it was legal. The government’s actions through its alphabet agencies have no such legal backing and the effects of the War on Drugs should be anathema to all conservatives. Even when compared to the sickening abuses committed on a national level to “ “fight terrorism,” the WOD has destroyed liberty on a scale unimaginable to our founding fathers. None of these powers were ever granted to the Federal Government and are therefore reserved to the States and the People.
I hate drugs and have personally seen their destructive power, but it all pales in comparison to the destruction of our country that has been perpetrated by this illegal usurpation of powers. The continuous increase in police powers and the accretion of power to Washington has caused more damage to our country than the worst effects of all illegal drug use combined.
You purposely ignored the salient point because it goes contrary to your lifestyle.
since you have no clue to my lifestyle, I’ll chalk your remark to a momentary brain fart...
Right. Like I said. Alcohol is bad therefore drugs are good. It's a very convincing argument.
Hell must be frozen cause I’m with you on this. Dope is for dopes.
I’ve been using cannabis for over a year now (I am 55) to treat long term anti-depressant withdrawal syndrome. It works VERY well for me. I joke with my wife all the time about being “upset because my ‘gateway’ hasn’t appeared.” In my personal experience ALL the propaganda I was fed for 54 years about cannibis is a LIE. I have yet to experience ANYTHING “hallucinogenic”.
Vote Trump 2016
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