cannabisnews.com: Doctors Call On DEA To Reschedule Marijuana

cannabisnews.com: Doctors Call On DEA To Reschedule Marijuana
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Doctors Call On DEA To Reschedule Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on January 27, 2015 at 05:53:34 PT
By Matt Ferner
Source: Huffington Post
USA -- The American Academy of Pediatrics is requesting that the Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify marijuana as a less harmful substance in order to facilitate research of the substance for medical use, according to a policy statement released Monday."The AAP strongly supports research and development of pharmaceutical cannabinoids and supports a review of policies promoting research on the medical use of these compounds," the AAP statement reads. To that end, the group recommends that the DEA reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule II.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. has five "schedules" for drugs and chemicals that can be used to make drugs. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that the DEA considers to have the highest potential for abuse and no "currently accepted medical use." Marijuana has been classified as Schedule I for decades, along with other substances like heroin and LSD. While a lower schedule for marijuana would not make it legal, it could ease restrictions on researching the drug.While the AAP added that it does not support the legalization of marijuana, citing the potential harms to children and adolescents, it did say that it "strongly" supports the decriminalization of marijuana use and encourages pediatricians to "advocate for laws that prevent harsh criminal penalties for possession or use of marijuana.""A focus on treatment for adolescents with marijuana use problems should be encouraged, and adolescents with marijuana use problems should be referred to treatment," the statement said.Monday's statement is the first change to AAP policy on the issue since 2004. At that time, the group did not request a schedule change.The DEA is the federal agency that is primarily responsible for regulating controlled substances like marijuana. But the Food and Drug Administration, along with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides the DEA with recommendations about the appropriate level of restriction for various illicit substances.The FDA is already engaged in a review of the medical evidence surrounding the safety and effectiveness of marijuana. The evaluation was initiated due to a request from the DEA, following a number of citizens' petitions asking for a review. According to the Controlled Substances Act, the government must consider eight factors when deciding the schedule under which a substance should be classified. These include its potential for abuse, the state of current scientific knowledge about the substance and its psychic or physiological dependence liability.The FDA could not confirm to The Huffington Post how long the review process takes, but expressed support for AAP's move."FDA can’t comment on the suggestion to change the schedule for marijuana, as the latest FDA review of the issue -- known as the 8-factor analysis -- is currently ongoing, FDA press officer Jeff Ventura said Monday. "However, FDA agrees with the call by the AAP for rigorous scientific research into the uses of marijuana ... [and] supports those in the medical research community who seek to study marijuana."The DEA has made previous requests, in 2001 and 2006, to the FDA for an evaluation of marijuana. Those requests were the results of public petitions requesting a rescheduling, FDA Deputy Director Doug Throckmorton explained in testimony delivered during a congressional hearing last year. But DEA regulators determined after both of those reviews that marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance. The FDA cited insufficient available research about marijuana's effectiveness in treating a number of ailments.While the FDA hasn't advocated for legalization of the drug, it said in a 2014 update to its guidelines on marijuana that it is "aware that there is considerable interest in its use to attempt to treat a number of medical conditions, including, for example, glaucoma, AIDS wasting syndrome, neuropathic pain, cancer, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and certain seizure disorders."Source: Huffington Post (NY)Author: Matt Ferner, The Huffington PostPublished: January 27, 2015Copyright: 2015 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/7jzqRKwcCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 30, 2015 at 05:42:02 PT
Paint With Light
I still have my rottweilers. I have two 6 month old boys we bred. Here is a picture of one of them. I can get blur free action shots now with my Canon camera. I love it.http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/MarthaGier/10915160_651703721608264_8320356275140547292_n_zpszlgcjikt.jpg
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Comment #19 posted by Paint with light on January 30, 2015 at 00:36:06 PT
Great Pictures!
Most people don't think of ice as having the variety of color that your pictures show.I enjoy the challenge of taking a seemingly chaotic scene and finding rhythm, feeling and mood hidden within. You've done a good job of doing that. It isn't easy.We all love beautiful sunsets. We can't see enough in one lifetime.I bookmarked the site and I want to come back when I have more time.I thought of you and your "pups" recently.I was listening to an audio book copy of "The Cornbread Mafia".http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornbread_mafiaIt is well worth reading for anyone involved in our movement.It is the history of the modern cannabis industry in Kentucky. I could imagine the comments by several of the long time members of the cannabis news regulars. I'd like to say a lot more about the book but I am pushed for time.While listening to the book I was cheering for the people on our side but I was upset by one of the descriptions of a security feature utilized by one of the growers. One of the ladies raised Rottweilers but somehow silenced their voice box when they were young. They used them as silent guard dogs. As much as I enjoyed picturing what might happen to some rippers in the middle of the night I couldn't help but feel a lot of compassion for the dogs.Thanks to you and hope and all the others here who have kept up the good fight.As always........legal like alcohol......and eventually..........tomatoes.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 29, 2015 at 06:01:17 PT
Paint With Light
Here are a couple of my pictures of nature.http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/MarthaGier/10849060_651064708338832_2602025525073518723_o_zpsod2tlcjg.jpghttp://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/MarthaGier/10911513_648417705270199_1891824625635246615_o_zpssttb7dxa.jpghttp://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/MarthaGier/10887146_648417645270205_2027596164039960317_o_zps37a5zq78.jpghttp://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/MarthaGier/10931626_649341528511150_1210469700487904863_o_zpsgalosoz8.jpg
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on January 29, 2015 at 04:47:44 PT
Paint with light
I have really gotten into taking pictures. I love it and it was you telling me how to use the zoom feature etc. that has helped me. I have a Canon Rebel T3 with a Canon 250 zoom lens.The drug war is over. It really is only a matter of time.
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Comment #16 posted by Paint with light on January 29, 2015 at 01:25:50 PT
FoM and Hope
Thanks for saying Hi(gh)I am still doing tech support for computers. I've been there two years and eight months.That is somewhere over 16,000 cases.I am trying to hold out for another 6 months to a year and then I plan to go back on the art show circuit until I am too old to set up a canopy.There have been a lot of changes in the last 30 months in the cannabis world.I feel now it is just a matter of time until we get all the states on board like Colorado and the others.Rescheduling is an eventuality.The movement now reminds me of a lava flow.You aren't going to stop it until it is ready to stop............and it moves r-e-a-l.......s-l-o-w.A bit of winter sunshine to you both.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on January 28, 2015 at 22:36:46 PT
Even if she is as rabid a prohibitionist
as John Ashcroft, I don't believe she can stop the American people from ending cannabis prohibition. We are rolling. We're rolling fast and heavy. Big time. Finally. We want the injustice and travesty of cannabis prohibition to be over.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on January 28, 2015 at 22:27:58 PT
Just now checking back in.
Looks like you answered the question about Ms. Lynch's views on the cannabis situation yourself.I didn't say what I thought of what she said because I saw her not disagreeing with what is and what she does. She's a freaking federal prosecutor. Of course she's not going to disagree with the laws against cannabis. She's put lots of folks in the slammer. I'm sure. Plus she's trying to get a job. You don't say you are against one of the aspects of the job if you want to get hired. You know how when you want on a jury to rescue someone from pot prosecution... you don't say you think it's a crock and and an injustice and no way would you put the defendant in jail... if you want a seat on that jury.Regardless of what she says about what she thinks about it all... she'll have to follow the changed law when it's changed... and you all know it will be.How much power she would have in all of this, I don't know. Will she trash the memos that are helping a bit now? I don't know. Will she go against the President that nominated her? I don't know. Even if she was secretly harboring feelings of wanting to end the injustice she wouldn't say so. Her job is prosecuting and upholding laws as they are. And the first sound she uttered about wanting to change one of them... you know what would happen. Hasta la vista, baby. She'd be out of there.There is no way of knowing for sure how she'd be... but no way would she be confirmed if she said anything we thought sounded good to our hopes for the future.I do remember them setting up a meeting for her with Runruff's favorite... Michelle from hell... for advice and miseducation on the marijuana situation.I sure hope Vanita Gupta is confirmed as Deputy Attorney General. At least she knows how dangerous and unjust the "War on drugs" can be. I'm pretty sure of that. I don't feel too hopeful though, because it's already out there, clear as a bell, that she's against the "War" as we have known it.
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Comment #13 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2015 at 20:55:54 PT
This is Your brain on prohibition.
AG Nominee Lynch Says She Differs From Obama On Marijuanahttp://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/28/382235633/ag-nominee-lynch-says-she-differs-from-obama-on-marijuanaWhen an ignoid indicates they are against legalizing cannabis, they are saying a lot of things that coincide with that at the same time. She wants to continue caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis. That's IGNORANT. There is getting to be less room for ignoids every day. They're already a minority and those deficient specimens are shrinking fast. Cannabis prohibitionists are thieves and One who they have victimized is cannabis' creator.They know not what they do.And We know it.
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Comment #12 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2015 at 20:17:40 PT
Walking head doink.
Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch opposes marijuana legalisationhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/28/attorney-general-nominee-loretta-lynch-opposes-marijuana-legalisation
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 28, 2015 at 15:49:54 PT
Lynch Does Not Support Marijuana
We need someone else.URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/28/loretta-lynch-marijuana_n_6565962.html
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 28, 2015 at 12:01:43 PT
Hope
What did she say?
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #9 posted by Hope on January 28, 2015 at 10:00:47 PT
Hey, Paint with Light!
It is good to see you. Hope you are well and thriving.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #8 posted by Hope on January 28, 2015 at 09:14:08 PT
Live here
http://graphics.latimes.com/videochat-confirmation-hearings-attorney-general-nominee-lor/
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on January 28, 2015 at 09:12:51 PT
Live
They are talking about marijuana in the Lynch hearings.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 28, 2015 at 06:31:39 PT
Paint with light
Thank you for the article. It's good to see you!
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Comment #5 posted by Paint with light on January 27, 2015 at 20:29:27 PT
OT sorta
Here is a link to another good Huffington Post Article.I did not see it here.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/marijuana-grows-up_b_6551216.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592 It is good to see some more serious discussions happening.Legal like alcohol.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on January 27, 2015 at 10:47:59 PT
I'm trying to figure out who is to blame
for all this fiasco and lie laced snot ball of legislation that came out of a bunch of sleazy characters in high places about forty five and fifty years ago.John Mitchell? Nixon? Congress?Occasionally, I wonder who was pulling the strings and encouraging them to do these things. In following the money, I guess it would be in who gave the money for the bought and paid for politicians that foisted this scheme upon the nation and the world. Of course, there is always the possibility that they were really calling the shots right out of their own weaselly little minds.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on January 27, 2015 at 10:30:39 PT
Need to know
Controlled Substances Act 1970http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act"Two federal agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, determine which substances are added to or removed from the various schedules, though the statute passed by Congress created the initial listing, and Congress has sometimes scheduled other substances through legislation such as the Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Act of 2000, which placed gamma hydroxybutyrate in Schedule I."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Drug_Abuse_Prevention_and_Control_Act_of_1970"The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the government's fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. This law is a consolidation of numerous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances. The act also provides a mechanism for substances to be controlled, added to a schedule, decontrolled, removed from control, rescheduled, or transferred from one schedule to another.
Proceedings to add, delete, or change the schedule of a drug or other substance may be initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or by petition from any interested party, including the manufacturer of a drug, a medical society or association, a pharmacy association, a public interest group concerned with drug abuse, a state or local government agency, or an individual citizen. When a petition is received by the DEA, the agency begins its own investigation of the drug.
The DEA also may begin an investigation of a drug at any time based upon information received from law enforcement laboratories, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies, or other sources of information.
Once the DEA has collected the necessary data, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Association, by authority of the Attorney General, requests from the HHS a scientific and medical evaluation and recommendation as to whether the drug or other substance should be controlled or removed from control. This request is sent to the Assistant Secretary of Health of the HHS. Then, the HHS solicits information from the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and evaluations and recommendations from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and on occasion, from the scientific and medical community. The Assistant Secretary, by authority of the Secretary, compiles the information and transmits back to the DEA a medical and scientific evaluation regarding the drug or other substance, a recommendation as to whether the drug should be controlled, and in what schedule it should be placed.
The medical and scientific evaluations are binding to the DEA with respect to scientific and medical matters. The recommendation on scheduling is binding only to the extent that if HHS recommends that the substance not be controlled, the DEA may not control the substance.
Once the DEA has received the scientific and medical evaluation from HHS, the Administrator will evaluate all available data and make a final decision whether to propose that a drug or other substance be controlled and into which schedule it should be placed.
The CSA also creates a closed system of distribution for those authorized to handle controlled substances. The cornerstone of this system is the registration of all those authorized by the DEA to handle controlled substances. All individuals and firms that are registered are required to maintain complete and accurate inventories and records of all transactions involving controlled substances, as well as security for the storage of controlled substances."
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on January 27, 2015 at 07:57:37 PT
DEA, ( self interest.)
Even if they have the power to reschedule, It is the same as asking high powered bureaucrats to give up their "Golden Goose". The DEA is motivated by self interest.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 27, 2015 at 06:25:20 PT
Can't do it.
I believe the DEA by law is not allowed to consider such request. They're not even allowed to admit it may have medical potential at all.
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