cannabisnews.com: In Decades-Old Program, Uncle Sam Provides Pot

cannabisnews.com: In Decades-Old Program, Uncle Sam Provides Pot
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In Decades-Old Program, Uncle Sam Provides Pot
Posted by CN Staff on September 28, 2011 at 05:11:25 PT
By Nigel Duara, The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
Eugene, Oregon -- Sometime after midnight on a moonlit rural Oregon highway, a state trooper checking a car he had just pulled over found less than an ounce of pot on one passenger: A chatty 72-year-old woman blind in one eye. She insisted the weed was legal and was approved by the U.S. government.The trooper and his supervisor were doubtful. But after a series of calls to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Drug Enforcement Agency and her physician, the troopers handed her back the card — and her pot.
For the past three decades, Uncle Sam has been providing a handful of patients with some of the highest grade marijuana around. The program grew out of a 1976 court settlement that created the country's first legal pot smoker.Advocates for legalizing marijuana or treating it as a medicine say the program is a glaring contradiction in the nation's 40-year war on drugs — maintaining the federal ban on pot while at the same time supplying it.Government officials say there is no contradiction. The program is no longer accepting new patients, and public health authorities have concluded that there was no scientific value to it, Steven Gust of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse told The Associated Press.At one point, 14 people were getting government pot. Now, there are four left.The government has only continued to supply the marijuana "for compassionate reasons," Gust said. 'I Have No Pain' One of the recipients is Elvy Musikka, the chatty Oregon woman. A vocal marijuana advocate, Musikka relies on the pot to keep her glaucoma under control. She entered the program in 1988, and said that her experience with marijuana is proof that it works as a medicine.They "won't acknowledge the fact that I do not have even one aspirin in this house," she said, leaning back on her couch, glass bong cradled in her hand. "I have no pain."Marijuana is getting a look from states around the country considering calls to repeal decades-old marijuana prohibition laws. There are 16 states that have medical marijuana programs. In the three West Coast states, advocates are readying tax-and-sell or other legalization programs.Marijuana was legal for much of U.S. history and was recognized as a medicine in 1850. Opposition to it began to gather and, by 1936, 48 states had passed laws regulating pot, fearing it could lead to addiction.Anti-marijuana literature and films, like the infamous "Reefer Madness," helped fan those fears. Eventually, pot was classified among the most harmful of drugs, meaning it had no usefulness and a high potential for addiction.In 1976, a federal judge ruled that the Food and Drug Administration must provide Robert Randall of Washington, D.C. with marijuana because of his glaucoma — no other drug could effectively combat his condition. Randall became the nation's first legal pot smoker since the drug's prohibition. Others Join Federal Program Eventually, the government created its program as part of a compromise over Randall's care in 1978, long before a single state passed a medical marijuana law. What followed were a series of petitions from people like Musikka to join the program.President George H.W. Bush's administration, getting tough on crime and drugs, stopped accepting new patients in 1992. Many of the patients who had qualified had AIDS, and they were dying.The AP asked the agency that administers the program, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, for documents showing how much marijuana has been sent to patients since the first patient in 1976.The agency supplied full data for 2005-2011, which showed that during that period the federal government distributed more than 100 pounds of high-grade marijuana to patients.Agency officials said records related to the program before 2005 had been destroyed, but were able to provide scattered records for a couple of years in the early 2000s.The four patients remaining in the program estimate they have received a total of 584 pounds from the federal government over the years. On the street, that would be worth more than $500,000.All of the marijuana comes from the University of Mississippi, where it is grown, harvested and stored. Government Pot Production Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly, who directs the operation, said the marijuana was a small part of the crop the university has been growing since 1968 for all cannabis research in the U.S. Among the studies are the pharmaceutical uses for synthetic mimics of pot's psychoactive ingredient, THC.ElSohly said the four patients are getting pot with about 3 percent THC. He said 3 percent is about the range patients have preferred in blind tests.The marijuana is then sent from Mississippi to a tightly controlled North Carolina lab, where they are rolled into cigarettes. And every month, steel tins with white labels are sent to Florida and Iowa. Packed inside each is a half-pound of marijuana rolled into 300 perfectly-wrapped joints.With Musikka living in Oregon, she is entitled to more legal pot than anyone in the nation because she's also enrolled in the state's medical marijuana program. Neither Iowa nor Florida has approved marijuana as a medicine, so the federal pot is the only legal access to the drug for the other three patients.The three other people in the program range in ages and doses of marijuana provided to them, but all consider themselves an endangered species that, once extinct, can be brushed aside by a federal government that pretends they don't exist.All four have become crusaders for the marijuana-legalization movement. They're rock stars at pro-marijuana conferences, sought-after speakers and recognizable celebrities in the movement.Irv Rosenfeld, a financial adviser in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been in the program since November 1982. His condition produces painful bone tumors, but he said marijuana has replaced prescription painkillers.Rosenfeld likes to tell this story: In the mid-1980s, the federal government asked his doctor for an update on how Rosenfeld was doing. It was an update the doctor didn't believe the government was truly interested in. He had earlier tried to get a copy of the previous update, and was told the government couldn't find it, Rosenfeld said.So instead of filling out the form, the doctor responded with a simple sentence written in large, red letters: "It's working."Source: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Nigel Duara, The Associated PressPublished: September 28, 2011 Copyright: 2011 The Associated PressCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #22 posted by Oleg the tumor on October 01, 2011 at 09:05:15 PT:
Of Commonsense and GentleGiant(s)
Gentlepeople!I have to hand it to you two for some great posts. When Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson parsed out the various ways and means of change, this is what it must have sounded like.
GentleGiant, your post (#17) starting with "Schedule 5 . . ." is a priceless response! Perfect form!
Personally, I am suspicious that Big Pharma will be replaced by Big Cannabis and I suspect Commonsense would agree. Keep up the good work, both of you!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #21 posted by gloovins on September 30, 2011 at 20:59:09 PT
Just want to say....
They say in the above article that the 3% THC cannabis they are supplied is "the highest grade around" and I need to state I believe this to be false. Flowers are generally in the range of 2-35%. I mean the low end is 3%, that's the way bottom. The $90 / oz here at the dispensiaries is around 13%. This place, hbc420.com has a card w/ some of their strains that tells you the THC percentage. The house shake is 17% there I know. Just my thoughts. I personally also think someone should sue to force the gov't to re-open this program like they were forced to open one in 1976 in the 1st place. What has changed? People are still suffering and it's wrong.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #20 posted by GentleGiant on September 30, 2011 at 17:06:11 PT:
Commonsense
Hey, Commonsense, yep, we are the on same page. Just a good old constructive argument. Let both sides argue their points and let the people decide what seems to be the best course for everyone. Yea, the feds could do some arm-twisting with federal monies (like the 55mph/insurance arm-twisting), but the main difference here is that this is medical. The feds could be tooken to court and they don't want to go to court. They would lose, thus opening up Pandora's box, so to speak, in their eyes. That's one of the reasons why early on they were only busting the dispensaries or the co-ops. Smashing the place up, destroying any helpful tools, taking the pot, computers, etc, but not charging the individuals with a crime. They want to avoid courts, because they would lose and thus, a precedence would be set.I had sign all the other pro-cannabis petitions, also, but I didn't see one with the scheduling angle. That's why I petitioned it. Scheduling is the reason why we can't get at it to research and to prove to our suck-ass drug policy makers and fooled-hardy politicians, that they've been lying to us all along and that they're pretty damn evil to want to jail the their own fellow man/woman, based on a lie. I saw this as another angle to keep the pressure on the feds to legalize pot, if we could re-schedule. But, I do want the research to help find the cures that I think they will find with cannabis, such as Cancer, Alzheimer's, Crohn's, Lou Gehrig's, you know, the bad stuff. The stuff that lies dormant, then comes alive. I think we have a cure and/or a treatment for many of our human maladies with cannabis.Actually, I'm looking forward to 2012. I'm expecting, at least two, but maybe four state ballots for the legalization of Marijuana. Legalize Cannabis 2012 !!! Our time is coming soon. It's inevitable.
http://wh.gov/48j
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Comment #19 posted by Commonsense on September 30, 2011 at 08:41:22 PT
GentleGiant
I'm not as worried about the feds killing state programs as I am about state legislatures and state voter initiatives mucking with them. The majority think sick people ought to be able to use marijuana if they're sick and marijuana works better for them than anything else. This majority includes a lot of people who do not think marijuana should be legal like alcohol and who are not particularly comfortable with the way medical marijuana programs have been working. They're barely okay with homegrowing and the dispensary system because there is no other legal avenue for people to get their medicine. If pot can be had from pharmacies, pot produced by pharmaceutical companies rather than shady drug dealer types, dispensaries will be in trouble because there will be a major push to run all pot through pharmacies, a push that will be funded largely by pharmaceutical companies looking to make big bucks. Cops and prosecutors will be behind that too, as would the medical community, etc. It's all about money and control. The feds might actually pressure states to do this, which they most certainly can do by doing things like refusing to give certain federal grants to states that don't have laws that they want. We saw that with the 55 mile an hour speed limit push in the 1970s where Congress said all states must enact 55 mile an hour speed limits or do without federal highway repair money. Most all states ended up complying. If pot is available through pharmacies, the feds can pressure states to get rid of dispensaries and not look like cretons picking on sick people, and that pressure could even affect the outcome of the well funded voter initiatives we'd probably see. Medical marijuana is not a big issue for me. I want it to be legal like alcohol, not included in the controlled substance schedules at all. The only benefit I can see with rescheduling pot is that it (or fancy expensive marijuana preparations) would be available at pharmacies in all states for people who need it. But, cheaper pot is already easily available in every state. Medical marijuana programs we have no show that people will buy pot at a nice clean store if they can, even if they have the right to grow their own, and they'll pay high prices which include taxes. It also shows that having shops that sell pot won't make the sky fall in, won't make everyone start smoking pot. I would love to see more states pass medical marijuana laws, allow people to grow their own, and allow for dispensaries. For me it's all about legalizing pot like alcohol though, as I think it's stupid to try in vain to keep up the ban on pot. We're doing way more harm than good with our laws and will be better off in this country when we finally do just regulate the marijuana industry and have it be legal similar to alcohol. We won't agree on the scheduling thing. No biggie. I have a lot of respect for you for actually making the effort to do something you believe will affect a positive change. You're a good man.
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Comment #18 posted by josephlacerenza on September 30, 2011 at 06:13:27 PT
O.T. Montana's Delegation Fights Back!
We seem to have some representation in the House and Senate! Montana is a BIG gun rights state! I hope this makes a stink!http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_b90d60a4-4d0f-5ad5-b4fd-abb7a60c880b.html
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Comment #17 posted by GentleGiant on September 30, 2011 at 05:04:02 PT:
Commonsense
Schedule 5 would be more appropiate schedule. Doesn't matter what schedule its in, as long as its out of one. At a lower schedule, doctors have access to it then. Even, if a prescrption is needed, the medical states would re-do their laws. They only use 'recommendations', cause they can't get pot by prescription. States, afterall do have the power on anything medical, within their state, not the feds. This is settled law. Re-affirmed in the 'Angel Raich v. U.S.' case. That the feds can do their thing, but the states can still do their thing and that is medical marijauna. That's why they didn't go after the states. The states would probably enhanced their dispensary programs already in place. You think the states can't grow it, well, they are, and their growing it right now. The dispensaries are here to stay. The feds can't touch a state's medical programs. They don't have the power in the constitution. So the growers would already be in place, as well as the help. They'll probably fret on the size of the plantations, but that's it. And I don't the feds would open up the University of Mississippi for pot business. Thus, all the by-products, smokeables and edibles from these establishments would still flourish, not go away. I would imagine the states would want to keep the pharmacy and dispensary business apart.
http://wh.gov/48j
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Comment #16 posted by Commonsense on September 29, 2011 at 10:39:57 PT
GentleGiant
I appreciate your sincerety and passion and that you're actualy trying to do something to affect a positive change. You are right that it would open the doors to research. There would be a lot of research by pharmacuetical companies and governement funded research. It will not help dispensaries though or make them more legitimate. Schedule 3 drugs are prescription only drugs. Where do you buy prescription only drugs? At drug stores. Who produces those drugs? Pharmacuetical companies. Why would pharmacuetical companies want to get in on the marijuana business? Because there is big money in it. Pharmacuetical companies cannot patent marijuana, but they can patent various preparations containing chemicals and compunds from marijuana. They'll be putting out products they claim are way better than raw marijuana, and they'll have plenty of bought and paid for "research" to back up their claims. The government will also be paying for research, looking in particular at what ailments can be helped by CBD, as opposed to THC. CBD is a component of marijuanaq that is also psychoactive in a mild way, but it mainly just mellows you out, makes you sleepy, and mitigates the effect of pure THC. It also has some medicinal benefit for certain ailments. THC gets you high. It's fun, so they say it has much potential for abuse and therefore they want to control it more. The DEA watches doctors closely in this country. They pressure doctors to prescribe drugs with less potential for abuse, less addictive qualities. They'll be pushing doctors to prescribe marijuana preparations that have low THC content and high CBD content. We would see all sorts of marijuana preparations in pharmacies, products for smoking or vaporizing, and a lot using alternative delivery mechanisms like films or liquids for sub-lingual dosing, maybe patches, inhalers, etc. Big pharma will spend a lot of money knocking out the competition, getting pot run through pharmacies that only sell drigs produced by pharmacuetical companies. Then they'll spend big money on designing and promoting marijuana preparations and combinations of various drugs that also have a marijuana extract component or two. These drugs will be expensive, and they won't want dispensaries out there selling pot and darned sure won't want people just growing their own. They'll spend a lot of money lobbying congress and passing voter initiatives to undo previous medical marijuana initiatives. It may be that the majority support medical marijuana, but a whole lot of medical marijuana supporters do not support legalization, are opposed to "recreational use," and they buy into all we hear about medical marijuana programs being out of control, drug dealers profitting and all that. It's only a matter of time before enough people support marijuana legalization for us to get it done. Within a few years we'll see majority support in most all the polls, and we'll see a lot of politicians getting on board. As it is only a few politicains support it, less than 2% of our federal law making bodies, and they are mostly considered fringe politicians. That will change after we start seeing a solid majority supporting marijuana legalization in the polls. They won't be afraid to come out in support. Most of the older politicians who haven't smoked pot and have close friends who have will be dead and gone, or at least retired, and we'll see major changes in the political discourse on marijuana legalization. We're slowly but surely getting there. Would rescheduling marijuana help us get there? I honestly believe it would hurt us. Look at the drugs on Schedule 3. Does being on Schedule 3 make us think drugs like Lorcet are just fine, harmless even? Are we looking at legalizing any drug on Schedule 3 and regulating them like alcohol? Yes, it is ridiculous that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, and it's great to point out that it's nowhere near as dangerous as most of the drugs in that Schedule. Putting in in Schedule 3 would most likely make medical marijuana available in most all states though, through pharmacies of course. Everyone who could get a doctor to prescribe it could go pay a piles of money for Big Pharma's marijuana preparations. Personally, I think that would take some of the fire out of the legalization movement, and it would encourage Big Pharma to fight legalization to protect the profits they're making from marijuana based medicines. Despite, what people might think, there really isn't a lot of money being spent now by Big Pharma or other big businesses else to keep marijuana illegal. For one thing, there is no real threat of it happening right now and these corporations have better things to spend their money on. Yeah, Big Pharma and the alcohol industry donate a lot to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, but they're just buying them off because their the biggest drug dealers on the planet, making billions and billions and billions selling products that kill so many, cause so many injuries and so much addiction and misery. They have to keep up appearances and acts like they really care about people and they have to buy off the major organizations fighting against addiction and abuse of drugs so these organizations won't come after them too. It is yet to be seen how big of a threat they'll perceive that marijuana legalization is, because it's been pretty much nothing but a pipe dream so far, not something they've really had to worry about.
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on September 29, 2011 at 09:44:01 PT
dongenero #3- Good Article except Leary Demonizing
This article is very unfair to the truth about Timothy Leary. He was by no means perfect. He was a former alcoholic, cured by psilocybe mexicana mushrooms. He had many acknowledged detractors and wrote of being cursed by jujus and evil eyes around the world. He was, however, a serious scientist. He believed in structured acid trips with attention to set and setting, just like today's researchers. Yes, he was enthusiastic about the experiences and their promise to improve humankind's future. He was not a proponent of unrestricted recreational use of psychedelics. That better describes Ken Kesey and his Electric Kool-Aid Acid Trips. Kesey and the Merry Pranksters drove the bus "Further" across country to meet Leary at the Millbrook mansion. There Leary was doing scientific experiments outside the halls of University/College authorization under the banner of IFIF (International Foundation for Internal Freedom). Leary refused to come out and meet Kesey. The article "seems" to be accurate about many other early psychedelic researchers, but the demonizing of Leary makes me wonder. Leary was made an example, by the ignorance and fear in the US Government, because he was outspoken about making the benefits of the psychedelic experience available to everyone who was willing to study and prepare to be licensed to have a structured session. He was a self-described cheerleader for a better future, not a proponent of unrestricted recreational use of psychedelics.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question!
Timothy Leary
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on September 29, 2011 at 09:40:45 PT
This article.
Makes me appreciative of some of our Texas cops. When George McMahon was stopped near here, the young officer knew about the program and was glad, and polite, to meet him. Isn't it odd that the government has kept no records on this "Study". What kind of study is it that records aren't kept on? Dr. Russo, as you'll know, is the only person besides their individual doctors that has looked at them at all.The pure jack ass bias and self inflicted ignorance of public health officials is stunning. "Government officials say there is no contradiction. The program is no longer accepting new patients, and public health authorities have concluded that there was no scientific value to it, Steven Gust of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse told The Associated Press." And yes... there is a huge contradiction between this program and the way other patients needing cannabis have been treated. Huge! But... "There are none so blind as those that will not see."
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on September 29, 2011 at 08:37:03 PT
That's beautiful, John Tyler.
And for someone like myself, that has experienced neither, that was a very interesting and understandable description of what happens.Thanks.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 29, 2011 at 04:51:24 PT
John Tyler
I agree. What a nice comment to read the first thing in the morning.
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Comment #11 posted by John Tyler on September 28, 2011 at 20:33:58 PT
memories of long ago
Psilocybin and mescaline too, were very mellow and good for most occasions like a day in the park with friends or a good concert. They were pastel, mellow, soft edged with nice hallucinations. LSD was intense. You had to be up for an LSD experience. It was metallic, dayglow, hard edge, with strong hallucinations, and 8 to 12 hours long. You had to really be in the mood for it and set aside some time. It could be good though. It could separate your physical self from your spirit like nothing else and put you right out there in infinity where you realize that you are really part of all creation, all part of being and not being, where “I am you, and you are me, and we are all together” makes total sense. I found out something though…this maybe controversial, but most girls were better at heavy tripping than most guys were. Some guys would be edgy and uncomfortable sometimes, but girls were rock solid even during the intense rushes and hallucinations.
Some people may think this is weird and dangerous, but this was our sports, our snowboarding, skateboarding, motorcycling riding, whitewater canoeing, name any sports where people are injured or killed. How is it different? This activity was actually safer. We didn’t get injured or killed or even hurt. I don’t have any aches or pains from old college sports injuries. We had a great time. It made me really enjoy education. We went on to lead regular even successful lives. Except that we knew, “I am you, and you are me, and we are all together”.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on September 28, 2011 at 19:46:15 PT
Dongenero and John Tyler
That was a great article, Dongenero. Thank you.You're right, John Tyler, everyone should have access to such a miraculous experience.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 28, 2011 at 19:34:06 PT
John Tyler
I only did psilocybin one time back in the late 70s. It was mild and pleasant. I remember alot from that day to this day and smile. It was peaceful and we were with friends on a pontoon boat just going slow and taking in the gorgeous weather. I did do LSD a few times way back in those days and comparing the two the mushrooms were more pleasant and less intense. Everyone had a great day.
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Comment #8 posted by John Tyler on September 28, 2011 at 18:54:23 PT
the psilocybin study
The white coats have rediscovered psychedelic. If it is good for the sick and or near death folks then, why should other people have to wait until they are sick and or near death to use them? Let’s get started earlier. Shouldn’t we all be allowed to feel peace, love and understanding in our very souls and understand the unity of all things? Is that asking too much?
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #7 posted by GentleGiant on September 28, 2011 at 17:57:47 PT:
Commonsense
Commonsense, the intent of this petition is mainly to accomplished five things, to get rid of the roadblock to research of marijuana, let that research find our cures and treatments, to show America the absurdities of a lying government, the road to legalization would be much easier with the truth know, and to stop this insane policy of arresting our friends.As it is right now, in the fed's eyes, medical marijuana is illegal, no matter if a state approved it. Even you, Commonsense, can still be tooken to jail. I don't think anyone wants that, I don't. And you'll have a record that'll do you more harm than good in all sorts of ways, jobs, driving licenses, insurance, school grants, public assistance, etc. You know, the laws Congress created that was intended and is hurting us.This is intended to bring us closer to legalization faster. If marijuana is legal, I just don't see or envisioned the scenario you've described. I see the doors being opened up on the whole front. I think dispensories and the medical marijuana movenment will be legitimized in the public's eyes and will flourish.
http://wh.gov/48j
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Comment #6 posted by HempWorld on September 28, 2011 at 17:56:37 PT
She insisted the weed was legal and was approved
by the U.S. government.a 1976 court settlement that created the country's first legal pot smoker.Oh my, admission that we have legal pot smokers?I always though AP was better than that!Dear Elvy, You are one of the most kind and benevolent persons to walk this earth. You have been humiliated, time and again ... But, it has paid off, you have been published by AP, bravo! This makes it all worth it!Kudos to you Elvy!And "The government has only continued to supply the marijuana "for compassionate reasons," Gust said."I'm so glad they put compassionate reason in quotation marks, not!The war on drugs (or some of them) is comparable to the holocaust! Let's please end it now, we are bankrupt, all of us! End the insanity and complete disregard for helping our fellow human being, who does not harm to others, help them! God help us all!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #5 posted by runruff on September 28, 2011 at 13:58:51 PT
moronic is to good a word....
..not to embarass you by correcting you in public but I thought we all agreed that the proper word in these instances is "maroon"? As in " What-a Maroon!" it must be spoken with alot of tongue and spittle. You know Daffy Duck style.Ok, carry on!
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Comment #4 posted by museman on September 28, 2011 at 10:32:59 PT
dongenero -link
They could've saved a lot of time and money if they just asked. Oh that's right, they are all laboring under the illusion of their own 'expertise.' Well maybe a few doses of forced reality will turn their heads? Maybe. But if they don't believe in the conclusion that they will come to (and that conclusion was gotten to by many before now, who have mapped out the psychedelic landscape so thoroughly they have no need to go back) -why do they pretend to even care? Oh that's right, the profit margin. One does not have to believe, just convince the buyers that they do.Such moronic standards of 'scientific' study.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #3 posted by dongenero on September 28, 2011 at 09:34:25 PT
Tangent OT, medical use of hallucinogens
Flashback! Psychedelic research returns
Four decades after Timothy Leary, LSD shows success in medical trials. Will the right completely trip? http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/09/28/the_new_lsd_cure/index.html
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Comment #2 posted by Commonsense on September 28, 2011 at 07:05:48 PT
GentleGiant
GentleGiant, I think if the government rescheduled marijuana to Schedule 3 it would kill medical marijuana programs as we know them. State governments would move to have everyone supplied by pharmacies. Since there would be a legal pharmaceutical supply, many who support medical marijuana but not truly legal marijuana would say there is no need anymore for people to be able to grow their own. Dispensaries would be shut down in favor of pharmacies. The "recommendations" people get for medical marijuana wouldn't be good enough anymore. People would need actual prescriptions, and the DEA would be watching doctors who prescribe pot very closely and they'd be taking some medical licenses away to make examples out of doctors they say over-prescribe. Some medical marijuana laws would remain intact in states that have them, but there would be big initiatives with big money behind them in those states to make medical marijuana just like any other prescription drug, and no new states would legalize medical marijuana because pot would be available at pharmacies by prescription. On top of that, it would probably make it harder for us to just legalize marijuana like alcohol because fewer people would see the need for that if it was available by prescription. It would just be another prescription drug like hydrocodone, in the same schedule even.This is one of those instances when you need to be careful what you wish for or you just might get it. Pot shouldn't be in any of the controlled substance schedules, just like alcohol and tobacco aren't included in the schedules. Both are actually in a literal sense controlled substances because there are a lot of laws controlling production, distribution, time and place where both can be used, age requirements of those allowed to use them, etc., but they are not scheduled controlled substances. If we want pot to be legal like alcohol, we don't want it to be a scheduled substance either.
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Comment #1 posted by GentleGiant on September 28, 2011 at 05:41:42 PT:
We The People: Reschedule Marijuana to Schedule 3
Dear friends,I wanted to let you know about a new petition I created on We the People, a
new feature on WhiteHouse.gov, and ask for your support. Will you add your
name to mine? If this petition gets 5,000 signatures by October 27, 2011,
the White House will review it and respond!You can view and sign the petition here:http://wh.gov/48jHere's some more information about this petition:Re-schedule Marijuana to the same level as Marinol, the government's
synthetic equivalent of Marijuana, to Schedule 3.
Besides more than 22,000 studies that shows the absurdities of the Federal
Government's 'flat earth' policy, that marijuana has no
medical value, is completely absurd. Given that our body produces the same
cannabinols that serves as a major life-functioning element within us to keep
us alive. Given that there is more than 7000 years of written medical usage
of marijuana. Given that U.S. doctors prescribed marijuana for nearly 100
years until abolished in 1937. Given that research shows that marijuana kills
all cancerous cells, while leaving the healthy cells alone. Its time to end
this blatant fraud perpetrated upon the American people. Re-schedule
marijuana to schedule 3, the same as marinol, and let our doctors and
researchers solve this problem, the greatest killer known to man, Cancer.
http://wh.gov/48j
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