The few, smaller studies conducted so far suggest marijuana has promise as a medicine, but they're far from conclusive. The National Cancer Institute and the Institute of Medicine support further research.

The judges had it right: In the absence of scientific evidence, they are not in a position to make medical decisions for the country or to set research priorities for the U.S. government. But the Obama administration can and should put the dark ages of uninformed fear behind us and release the death grip of the DEA and the National Institute for Drug Abuse on research-grade marijuana. President Obama then should direct the National Institutes of Health to fund worthwhile research, just as he recently ordered the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence.

Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have medical marijuana laws, and last year voters in Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana to a limited extent. As a result, the president has expressed willingness to consider decriminalizing possession of small quantities under federal law. That's fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't address the need for legitimate research. Do the reports of relief from various ailments reflect real medical results or a placebo effect? Is marijuana perhaps as useful as other, more dangerous drugs — morphine and cocaine, for example — that already can be legally prescribed?

Marijuana is just another drug, no more, no less. The nation should treat it that way by evaluating the facts and the science instead of hiding behind myths and rumors.

Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Published: January 25, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
URL: http://drugsense.org/url/xHHYuLZP

Oh yeah. That must be it. The DEA is just ignorant. It isn't that they know that if marijuana is legalized, then their whole department fiefdom is worth beans. Pot is the lynchpin. Put it (pot prohibition) out of the government's splendid perpetual war on us, and the rest of their lying "drug war" collapses. We know it, they know it. The "golly, 'the DEA' must just be ignorant!" chant misses the point. The fiefdom creating secret government police at the DEA aren't ignorant: their clever and shrewd, carefully nurturing their powers, and continued feeder lines, coming from government coffers. That (and not your freedom or welfare) is Job Number One at the DEA.

Deliberation, n.: The act of examining one's bread to determine which side it is buttered on. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

The DEA answers to no one but the DEA. Congress doesn't tell the DEA what goes on the Controlled Substances List. The DEA gets to decide for itself. Just as the Treasury Dept. can fabricate money out of thin air, so can the DEA fabricate crimes. New crimes mean new criminals, and that's the bread and butter of the DEA. It's a self-perpetuating clusterf**k.

Next time you hear a wooden-headed Republican lie about being in favor of "small government", think about the DEA (over 11,000 employees busily failing to control drugs), the TSA (58,000+ employees keeping our shoes from exploding), and the Homeland Security Administration (180,000+ employees reading our mail and listening to our phone conversations), all bastard stepchildren of Republican administrations. Most of these same Republicans will loudly assert that the government doesn't create any jobs, even as they complain about "big" government in the same sentence. Isn't Big Government at least partly about how many people have government jobs?

Lies, damn lies. No "well-controlled, well-designed, well-conducted and well-documented scientific studies?" How did GW Pharmaceuticals win approval for their cannabis drug Sativex? Wishful thinking? Israeli scientists have boatloads of well-controlled, well-designed, well-conducted and well-documented scientific studies" on cannabis as medicine. Everyone here knows StormCrow has a well-researched archive of scientific studies.

But of course, you can't push Michele Leonhart and the DEA too far. She might exercise the 'nuclear option" and list salt as a controlled substance. It has a high potential for abuse with no currently accepted medical use. "DOWN ON THE GROUND! YOU'RE ALL BUSTED!"

When it comes to science, DEA stands for Denying Evidence Altogether.

The more the word gets out to American citizens how the DEA works so hard to maintain cannabis as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, (while meth and coke are only Schedule II substances), the more they come out on bottom.

Oklahoma City -- An Oklahoma lawmaker is proposing a bill that would legalize medical marijuana in our state. State Senator Constance Johnson, District 48, says this move could bring money to state and help reduce crime, but it's a controversial measure.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia already allow doctor approved marijuana to treat medical conditions.

Now, Democratic Senator Johnson wants Oklahoma to follow suit.