cannabisnews.com: The Science of Medical Marijuana Prohibition 





The Science of Medical Marijuana Prohibition 
Posted by CN Staff on June 15, 2006 at 07:33:36 PT
By Kenneth Michael White 
Source: Frontiers of Freedom 
USA -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently opined that smoked marijuana has no scientifically accepted medical uses. The FDA received much criticism for this decision because in 1999 the Federal Government’s own scientists concluded that even in smoked form marijuana has medical uses.At the heart of the debate about medical marijuana is the question of science. But what, exactly, is science? Since modern civilization bases itself on a belief in the ability of science to solve any and all problems (human or otherwise), prudent people are obligated to at least try to understand just where the faith of modernity really rests.
Modern science starts with the concept of “pure reason,” as articulated by the philosopher Descartes—who said, “I think therefore I am.” In short, Descartes argues that the quest for knowledge, i.e., “science,” is based on an objective understanding of that which human beings can see, touch, smell, taste, or hear.According to the people we call “scientists,” there are three types of activities that pass for “science,” though it is important to note that these activities are inseparably interrelated. First, there is the descriptive method. Second, there is the empirical method. Third, there is the theoretical method.The descriptive method generally relies on case studies, which amounts to the observation of (either from afar or up close) the behavior of one or more persons and the objective reporting of what was experienced. The benefit of the case study is that a single phenomenon or event can be described “thickly” and in great detail, such that there is a “deep” appreciation for what is being studied.The empirical method generally takes many individual case studies, gathered either by experiments or surveys, and then uses numbers (statistics) to objectively report or “model” what was experienced. The benefit of the empirical method is that it appears more objective than the case study because it can “control” for confounding explanations. The empirical method is indeed a more precise science; however, the descriptive method is reliable and valid, too.Literally, behind both methods is the theoretical method, which provides the basis or reason for doing either descriptive or empirical science in the first place. Basically, descriptive or empirical science is a “test” of some particular theory. The irony of the theoretical method is that sometimes what a scientist assumes theoretically is exactly what a scientist finds descriptively or empirically.In 1937, for example, the 75th Congress theorized that Spanish-speaking immigrants were “low mentally” because of “social and racial conditions” and, since some of these immigrants used medical marijuana, the Federal Government “reasoned” (over the objection of the American Medical Association) that medical marijuana should be criminalized. It is an ugly truth: racism represents the beginning of today’s Federal medical marijuana prohibition.Anyone doubting whether racism is in fact behind the founding of today’s Federal medical marijuana prohibition should read the legislative history of The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Anyone doubting whether race still plays a role in the war on drugs should read the American Civil Liberties Union’s policy report on race and drug prohibition. That Federal medical marijuana prohibition stems from Jim Crow thinking is beyond doubt to everyone who takes the time to research and consider the issue with an open mind.Science is only as good as the theory that drives it. Since the FDA operates from a misinformed viewpoint based in large part on the racial stereotypes of 1937, no case study or double-blind experiment could ever show that the marijuana plant in its raw form has medical utility. Why? Follow the money.The FDA is politically prohibited from recognizing the value of a medicine that can be grown by people for free because the agency has such close ties to the pharmaceutical industry. This is my “theory” because shortly after the FDA said that marijuana has no benefit in smoked form the agency recognized the medical efficacy of a pill-based marijuana medicine. Is it a coincidence that the FDA discourages the use of a medicine that can be grown for free, but endorses the use of that same medicine if produced synthetically for profit?Soon the 109th Congress will vote on an amendment that would recognize, under Federal law, the legitimacy of the medical marijuana programs in the various states that have passed medical marijuana laws. Let’s hope—a bold hope, in these partisan times—that a majority-of-the-majority in Congress will finally end a 69-year-old error and thereby follow a more factual and compassionate theory when it comes to medical marijuana.Call your representative now and instruct him or her to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment. In a sense, the future of science is at stake.Kenneth Michael White is an attorney and the author of “The Beginning of Today: The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” and “Buck” (both by PublishAmerica 2004). Source: Frontiers of Freedom (VA)Author: Kenneth Michael White Published: June 15, 2006Copyright: 2006 Frontiers of Freedom Contact: opeds opeds.com Website: http://www.ff.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by Wayne on June 17, 2006 at 12:32:02 PT
riding out the s*** storm
It makes me so angry that the FDA, the DEA, and the ONDCP never seem to have to prove anything they say. It makes me even more angry that the media and the general public never call them on it. It was such a breath of fresh air when the media and the public saw right through the FDA's recent statement. Let's take the next step and start screaming for some frickin' proof the next time the government decides to spout off.Follow the link below to the ONDCP's marijuana 'facts' page - it's a good place to start. You'll see at the bottom that all the sources are government-run or government-funded agencies. Why do they keep quoting themselves? Why don't they just ask the doctors if they're so sure that they're right?LESSON TO TEACH YOUR KIDS: DON'T TRUST YOUR GOVERNMENT!!
ONDCP - Facts & Figures: Marijuana
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Comment #16 posted by global_warming on June 16, 2006 at 02:48:24 PT
industrial hemp
http://tinyurl.com/jrwh2AGRICULTURE: Farmers urge lifting ban on industrial hemp
DEA doesn't attend hearing, opposes planBy James MacPherson
Associated PressBISMARCK - Stark County farmers George and Earlene Frank say they're willing to get fingerprinted and undergo criminal background checks to grow hemp, the biological cousin of marijuana.The elderly couple, who grow small grains and raise cattle south of Dickinson, say industrial hemp would be a much-needed alternative cash crop for North Dakota farmers.
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Comment #15 posted by global_warming on June 15, 2006 at 15:57:50 PT
the right thing to do
A human being who is facing death,Has few options,If this person grows some cannabis, What is the harm?This person is going to the Infinite,
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Comment #14 posted by global_warming on June 15, 2006 at 15:31:49 PT
and those of us,
who are rotting in our prisons,May 'we have hope,That our "Majority who live and breatheOn this plane, may rise to receive,Grace and Forgiveness,
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Comment #13 posted by whig on June 15, 2006 at 12:47:16 PT
mbc
God is real and within each of us. Nuns are not closer than you are. They are more lost in that they are adhering to an institution which tells them that God can only be found through their superiors in the church and up through the person they call pope. He is no closer to God than you.Bless you.
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Comment #12 posted by mai_bong_city on June 15, 2006 at 12:36:23 PT
oh yeah!
and a hallelujah for hemp Hope :)
on a weird/religious connection note, here's my blog posting regarding what's contributed to my current displeasure/disappointment in this fight for right. it helps me to dump it there so i can leave it and hopefully continue onward, cannabis soldiers.
but gosh, i deplore battling and anything other than peace :(
be well y'all.http://tinyurl.com/o6oay
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on June 15, 2006 at 10:27:34 PT
Stupidity
I would guess a more apt description of what happened is that the Supreme Court followed Bush's orders. Actually, followed Cheney's orders.
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Comment #10 posted by billos on June 15, 2006 at 10:22:14 PT
            Knock my door down
without first announcing who you are and you're likely to get shot, and I would never knowingly shoot a cop. (I used to be one)Stupid ruling = dead copsBush's Supreme court has caught his stupidity. I didn't think being a moron was contagious. Sad, sad day.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on June 15, 2006 at 10:16:40 PT
mai_bong_city ,,,, "Praying"
You have an "Amen!" here, Sister.
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Comment #8 posted by mai_bong_city on June 15, 2006 at 09:49:55 PT
but seriously
i hope this time it passes. it's way past due. i'm mad about the fda every day now, the more that is learned and exposed about them. last night too on our local news was a story about chemicals - it's a fungus they developed for protecting potato crops - well evidently it's been carried over to neighboring states in clouds and rain and snow and is causing all sorts of physical defects in animals....the fda knows it's bad but won't do anything about it....sickening....and the antibiotic ketra? i think, i can't remember the name - the one that causes liver damage and geez.....it makes me afraid, just really afraid.
i hope with all my might the ammendment makes it this time, praying hard, writing reps.
mbc
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Comment #7 posted by mai_bong_city on June 15, 2006 at 09:44:16 PT
vanity, vanity....
all is vanity! heh, vanity, thy name is ....cannabis? how odd - i wonder if it's the entire plumbing section? my friend and i were there just two weeks back looking for a new faucet, and i started smelling something strange and then had to leave the store - my friend came out twenty minutes later higher than a kite - they were patching the roof evidently with some highly toxic chemical and the whole store was getting high in there from fumes....hmmm, to cover the smell of workers smoking a joint on the roof during lunchbreak, perhaps! i think i'll apply to work there - what's their motto - you can do it, we can help? hahaha i bet they can.
now i'm mad my friend ended up buying that faucet at lowe's! but um, hey....anyone checked their vanities?! 
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on June 15, 2006 at 09:25:16 PT
Really....
I need three new vanities.Really.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on June 15, 2006 at 09:24:27 PT
Whig comment 2
Man....and I need a vanity, too!Wonder if Home Depot is experiencing a nationwide surge in vanity sales?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 15, 2006 at 09:17:45 PT
Whig
I did see that today too. Do they understand what the word liberty means anymore?
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Comment #3 posted by whig on June 15, 2006 at 09:07:36 PT
Knock and announce
Supreme court ruled today that searches which previously required knock-and-announce are not subject to evidence suppression if the knock-and-announce requirement is not followed.
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Comment #2 posted by whig on June 15, 2006 at 08:33:21 PT
Drug caches found in Home Depot vanities
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/14/home.depot.drugs/index.html?eref=aol(CNN) -- Large quantities of drugs were found inside merchandise from at least two Home Depot stores in Massachusetts, and authorities are investigating, police said Wednesday.A contractor late last week discovered two 50-pound "bricks" of marijuana wrapped in plastic bags inside a bathroom vanity he had purchased at a Home Depot store in Tewksbury, said Chief of Detectives Lt. Dennis Peterson.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on June 15, 2006 at 07:42:13 PT
good one
In the last few paragraphs there, he could have also mentioned that the "smoked" version of cannabis was recently proven to have no cancer risk whatsoever. I'm sorry to have to post this article, it's about a teenage girl that was murdered because of her brother's MJ drug deal gone bad:http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/06/15/teen_faults_himself_for_the_slaying_of_his_sister/
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