cannabisnews.com: Is Marijuana Really as Dangerous as Heroin and LSD

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  Is Marijuana Really as Dangerous as Heroin and LSD

Posted by CN Staff on January 23, 2015 at 04:27:55 PT
LA Times Editorial 
Source: Los Angeles Times 

California -- A federal judge has done what Congress and the Obama administration have failed to do — open a discussion on whether marijuana should continue to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug, a classification that is supposed to be used only for the most dangerous, addictive drugs, such as heroin and LSD.As part of a criminal trial involving alleged marijuana growers in Northern California, U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller held a five-day hearing late last year to evaluate the current scientific research on marijuana use and to determine whether the Schedule 1 designation is unconstitutional, as the defendants contend. Final arguments are scheduled for next month.
This discussion is a welcome one. Whether the Drug Enforcement Administration's classification is constitutional or not, it shouldn't take a judge to point out that lumping marijuana in with heroin and deeming it to have no medicinal value at all is unreasonable and unnecessary.Frankly, government policy on marijuana is a mess. Federal law says marijuana has no accepted medicinal value, yet 23 states have legalized it for medical use. It has been put on the list of drugs that carry the most severe penalties for drug crimes, but Congress and the Obama administration have also passed legislation that blocks funding for the enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that allow medical marijuana. That law, passed in December, in effect ended the prohibition of medical marijuana in nearly half the states. Meanwhile, Colorado and Washington have been unofficially allowed by the federal government to legalize recreational pot.Even as lawmakers relax enforcement, federal authorities, including the prosecutors in Mueller's courtroom, defend the Schedule 1 designation, saying there are not enough long-term studies of the medicinal value and health risks of marijuana use to justify reclassifying it. But the DEA has for decades made it nearly impossible for researchers to obtain the drug for study. The lack of research hasn't stopped many states from allowing the use of the drug for pain relief and other therapeutic purposes, but it has denied doctors and patients important information about the risks or benefits. The agency began increasing government production of marijuana for research only last year.Legalization advocates hope Mueller will rule that federal marijuana policy is unconstitutional. Although her decision would apply only to the defendants in this case and could be appealed, a ruling against the existing policy could prompt other defendants to file similar motions. But the country's drug laws should not be decided in the courts. It's long past time for Washington to revisit the war on drugs, and officials can begin by reclassifying medical marijuana so it can be regulated more as a prescription drug.Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Published: January 20, 2015Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/TgFtq8PJCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 

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Comment #10 posted by Hope on January 27, 2015 at 09:26:34 PT
Comment 8 FoM
It would indeed. I think... I hope... that finally, enough people are hearing the truth and knowing it's the truth that the power of the prohibitionists is waning. Seriously waning. It's been such a dang long haul for people that grew up in the age of so called "Instant gratification".It for sure hasn't been instant... but it's finally, so gratifying, for sure, to see the prohibitionists having to put that famous "Stick" of theirs down. Finally.
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Comment #9 posted by runruff on January 27, 2015 at 05:50:58 PT
Old DEA news clip.
I saw Leonhart speak several sentences in a row. She has a lisp like Elmer Fudd! I'm still laughing! Her eyes were very serious but her lips were all Looney Tunes.Want a good morning howl? Look up Mrs. Fudd on Youtube.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 27, 2015 at 04:41:50 PT
Hope
The news is so slow. I guess we need a really big story. I think it's time to change the law on the Federal level and that would be big news!
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on January 26, 2015 at 21:33:21 PT
Heard much in the MSM yet?
Pediatricians Say Don't Lock Up Teenagers For Using Marijuanahttp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/26/381566448/pediatricians-say-dont-lock-up-teenagers-for-using-marijuanaDoctors Call On DEA To Reschedule Marijuana For Medical Research Purposeshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/26/pediatricians-call-on-dea_n_6550486.html
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on January 24, 2015 at 19:24:33 PT

Someone... some lying low life...
has been getting away with this "Schedule 1" lie for a long time. Too long. Let's throw some light on the subject and let society come out of the freaking darkness.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on January 24, 2015 at 19:21:39 PT

Comment 3
Yes it was and sadly, pretty much still is.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 23, 2015 at 14:14:33 PT

Hope
It was all propaganda and vested interests.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on January 23, 2015 at 12:44:39 PT

Truth!
"This discussion is a welcome one. Whether the Drug Enforcement Administration's classification is constitutional or not, it shouldn't take a judge to point out that lumping marijuana in with heroin and deeming it to have no medicinal value at all is unreasonable and unnecessary."Who decided the schedule originally? What was their science?
Was there an agenda? An agenda that would negate the truth?

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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 23, 2015 at 07:32:29 PT

Incomprehensible comparing cannabis to heroin.
Whether or not a federal judge or anyone else rules / decides marijuana should continue to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug, doesn't make it a Schedule I substance. It simply is not. -Just because a bureaucracy labeled it doesn't mean it honestly is.Rational humans do not equate the plant cannabis with heroin. To do so is incomprehensible.Attempting to equate cannabis w/heroin is so wrong that it in itself can be used as a litmus test to check whether someone is sane, ignorant, etc.My decision to accept cannabis as a beneficial plant is not dependent on government.
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