cannabisnews.com: Elizabeth Warren Urges Feds To Support MJ Research
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Elizabeth Warren Urges Feds To Support MJ Research
Posted by CN Staff on July 14, 2015 at 14:50:14 PT
By Matt Ferner, National Reporter
Source: Huffington Post
Washington, D.C. -- The federal government has a "responsibility" to facilitate sensible research into marijuana's medical benefits, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and seven other senators urged in a letter issued last week to multiple federal drug and health officials."While the federal government has emphasized research on the potential harms associated with the use of marijuana, there is still very limited research on the potential health benefits of marijuana -- despite the fact that millions of Americans are now eligible by state law to use the drug for medical purposes," the letter reads.
The senators praised the White House's recent lift of what was a mandatory bureaucratic review process, long criticized by researchers and lawmakers alike, that had stifled scientific research into the plant. But, they also encouraged the federal drug and health agencies to do more.For patients in states with active medical marijuana programs, the senators recommend the agencies use their existing tools to collect national data, conduct surveillance and perform clinical trials. "It is time for the federal government to pick up those tools and use them," the letter reads. The senators also implored the agencies to collaborate and support "independent scientists" by eliminating needless federal barriers that stifle research into the plant.To date, 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Nearly 20 others have legalized the limited medical use of CBD, or cannabidiol, a compound found in the cannabis plant that doesn't produce the euphoric sensation associated with the drug but has shown medical promise. Still, the federal government continues to ban the plant. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. has five categories for drugs and drug ingredients. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that the DEA considers to have the highest potential for abuse and no medical value. Marijuana has been classified as Schedule I for decades, alongside other substances like heroin and LSD.Critics of federal policy say that the classification is due in part to a lack of cannabis science in the United States, stemming from a federal stranglehold on marijuana research. There's only one federally legal marijuana garden in the U.S., at the University of Mississippi. The National Institute on Drug Abuse oversees the operation, and it's the only source of marijuana for federally sanctioned studies on the drug.Federal authorities have long been accused of funding marijuana research that focuses on the potential negative effects of the substance. The DEA has also been accused of not acting quickly enough when petitioned to reschedule marijuana, and for obstructing science around the drug.Warren was joined by Democratic Sens. Jeffrey Merkley (Ore.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Edward Markey (Mass.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) -- about half of whom are cosponsors of a sweeping bill introduced earlier this year designed to drastically reduce the federal government's ability to crack down on state-legal medical marijuana programs while also encouraging more research into the substance.The letter, dated July 9, was addressed to the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and National Institute on Drug Abuse were also copied on the letter.Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Drug Enforcement Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Source: Huffington Post (NY)Author: Matt Ferner, National Reporter Published: July 14, 2015Copyright: 2015 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/OjZEuhDqCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by observer on July 15, 2015 at 12:43:10 PT
NIDA Doubleplus Professional Doublethinkers
re: "the federal government has emphasized research on the potential harms associated with the use of marijuana"Question: Gee, why on earth would government do something like that? I thought government was here to help people?Short answer: Government lies. Government communications - edicts, laws, proclamations, dictates, orders, etc. - are all forms of political language. Political language Orwell correctly noted, "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."In this case, the idea for government is to build consensus that government did right by banning marijuana, after all. Because look at all these bad things about cannabis, here, where "the federal government has emphasized research on the potential harms associated with the use of marijuana". To do that, government plays people's confirmation bias.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_biasIn other words, government cherry-picks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking_%28fallacy%29
anything which may be plausibly claimed to be a negative attribute about pot, while studiously ignoring all the overwhelmingly positive and healing attributes of cannabis. And by the way, the "studiously ignoring" pretense we see so often from governmental people, was (and is) pretty much a textbook example of doublethink.Still, it is great to see a little truth seep in, even to politicians - when the truth can no longer be denied and people are also not shutting up about it.
http://drugnewsbot.org
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