cannabisnews.com: Drug Warriors Still Ignore Powerful Pot Science





Drug Warriors Still Ignore Powerful Pot Science
Posted by CN Staff on September 08, 2008 at 05:46:28 PT
By Rob Kampia, AlterNet
Source: AlterNet
Washington, D.C. -- Twenty years ago, on Sept. 6, 1988, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge issued a landmark ruling, but don't expect any celebrations or commemorations in Washington, D.C. Our government has ignored this historic decision since the day it was issued, inflicting needless misery on millions.Indeed, most Americans don't know it ever happened.
In response to a petition asking that marijuana be moved from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bars medical use, to a lower schedule that would permit physician prescriptions, Judge Francis Young held extensive hearings that began in the summer of 1986. He heard from an impressive array of expert witnesses, resulting in thousands of pages of documentation.Young laid out his findings in a detailed, 69-page ruling, walking readers through the scientific evidence. He concluded that the law didn't just permit moving marijuana to Schedule II, but required it."Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man," he wrote. "By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. ... The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."Remember, this was no pot-addled "legalizer" writing. It was the chief administrative law judge within the top federal agency responsible for enforcing our drug laws. Unfortunately, the ruling had no legal force. In legal terms, it was a recommendation, not an order that had to be followed.And the DEA chose not to follow it. Six years after top DEA officials rejected Young's recommendation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit ruled that the agency did have the right to ignore its own administrative law judge.Because the federal government chose to disregard the results of its own investigation, the medical marijuana controversy continues to rage today. Losing patience with the feds, 12 states have acted to permit medical use of marijuana under their state laws. If Michigan passes the medical marijuana initiative on its November ballot, that number will increase to 13, comprising roughly 1 in 4 Americans.But while those state laws provide considerable protection for medical marijuana patients, states cannot provide an exemption from federal law. Even in the 12 states that have medical marijuana laws, patients and caregivers have been arrested, terrorized and even had their children taken away.Meanwhile, the medical evidence continues to mount. Another federally commissioned study, this time by the Institute of Medicine, confirmed in 1999 that marijuana has legitimate medical uses.More recently, newly published clinical trials have found that marijuana effectively relieves certain types of hard-to-treat pain, including the nerve pain that often accompanies multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Other research suggests that by relieving the nausea and vomiting often caused by the harsh drugs used to treat hepatitis C and HIV, medical marijuana can help patients stick to these challenging drug regimens -- and live.Because our government has ignored science, needless suffering has been inflicted on millions of Americans who have benefited or could benefit from medical marijuana. In 2009, we will have a new president and a new Congress, and they should move quickly to end this sorry record of federal stonewalling.Complete Title: Lunatic Drug Warriors Still Ignore Powerful Pot ScienceRob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. - http://www.mpp.org/Source: AlterNet (US)Author: Rob Kampia, AlterNetPublished: September 8, 2008Copyright: 2008 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/URL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/97927CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #19 posted by Paint with light on September 09, 2008 at 00:00:03 PT
Nutmeg
Cannabis should eventually be under the same schedule as nutmeg.Cannabis is even less toxic.Until then, equal with alcohol is all I ask.
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Comment #18 posted by John Tyler on September 08, 2008 at 20:59:26 PT
Antibacterial properties 
Someone sent me an article about a study in Spain and Italy where they successfully used certain cannabis compounds to treat certain types of difficult to treat staph infections like MRSA.  
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Comment #17 posted by afterburner on September 08, 2008 at 20:21:05 PT
FDA Treatment of Cannabis Typical of US Sickcare 
Manmade synthetics, patentable, offer rich profits to Big Pharma. The Amazon rainforest, home of many, many healing herbs, has been under attack by dinosaur industries for years.New Warfare (comic). 
Monday, May 28, 2007 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author).
Key concepts: America, Food and Intellectual property
http://www.naturalnews.com/021872.htmlThe Cancer and Disease Fighting Plants of the Rainforest. 
Friday, September 05, 2008 by: Tony Isaacs (see all articles by this author).
Key concepts: Rainforest, Cancer and Forests 
http://www.naturalnews.com/024079.html
{
(NaturalNews) One of my all time favorite websites is Dr. Leslie Taylor's Rain-tree.com and my favorite section of the website is the plant database she has painstakingly compiled. It is a database of the many plants and herbs used by indigenous peoples of the Brazilian and South American rain forests and it has information about historical uses, modern studies, plant compounds, side effects and more for each plant, as well as beautiful photos of each and every plant.
I urge everyone to go take a look and browse a bit -- words alone ar e not sufficient to describe it to fully appreciate it. Here is the link to the common plant name database:
( http://www.rain-tree.com/plist.htm )
}Forest self defense (comic). 
Thursday, December 07, 2006 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author).
Key concepts: Nature, Ecosystems and Environmentalism
http://www.naturalnews.com/021262.html
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on September 08, 2008 at 19:32:03 PT
Just think of the help and good destroyed.
Eddy Lepp's fields alone. How many could have been helped or even saved from death with the cannabinoids and all the other good stuff from those fields alone?Bad as the cat killers during the black plague.
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on September 08, 2008 at 19:08:30 PT
I Don't Know It Just Made Me Feel Better
Before anyone knew anything about the medicinal properties of cannabis I heard people say I don't know it just made me feel better. That's good medicine. They can't say anything about cannabis not being medicine just because it makes a person feel better when they push all kinds of feel good drugs on tv.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on September 08, 2008 at 18:50:22 PT
E_Johnson ... the rest of the story.
It's too amazing for people that have been kept in the dark to wrap their tiny, stiff minds around all of it at one time, probably. It's a list. A wonderful list of helping grief, sorrow, fear, and sicknesses of many kinds. But if they ever open their eyes and see... they will be as amazed and thankful as those who know are.It's truly amazing. It still amazes me and I knew it was beneficial long before these revelations. I didn't realize, either, of course, that it was even nearly as beneficial as it is. I knew it was good... but I'm still awestruck at how good. Truly awed.
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on September 08, 2008 at 18:28:33 PT
Governement and prohibitionisists
issuing grief because of cannabis use.I believe they should be ashamed. They still aren't though. Yet.
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Comment #12 posted by charmed quark on September 08, 2008 at 18:24:10 PT
Ironic
The state subcommittee has been sitting on a medical marijuana bill for over 4 years. The last review hung up over how best to distribute it. It has very strong support and the Governor has said he will sign it. But they act like they have all the time in the world.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on September 08, 2008 at 18:19:57 PT
Comment 9
That's horrible. Again. Over and over.It's truly horrible and oh so wrong.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on September 08, 2008 at 17:47:59 PT
charmed quark 
I sure hope we see things changing soon. I'm sorry to read what you posted.
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Comment #9 posted by charmed quark on September 08, 2008 at 17:36:32 PT
Another victim
This just happened where I live. A man and his wife were arrested arrested Sept 4 and their baby son taking by the state. The man had been growing a small amount of cannabis to treat his Crohn's disease. This has been the only treatment that works for him. In the first two days since his arrest he had already lost 9 pounds.We've started a legal defense fund for him but I'm afraid this will end badly.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 08, 2008 at 13:26:20 PT
Remorseful Jurors Want Retrial in Medical Pot Case
September 8, 2008
 FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Two jurors who convicted two Modesto men of running a criminal enterprise in connection with a medical marijuana dispensary want the defendants to get a new trial. Jurors Craig Will of Twain Hart and Larry Silva of Tollhouse say they wouldn't have found the men guilty had they known the penalty was 20 years to life in prison. They said a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about medical marijuana led them to believe the crimes weren't that serious. Ricardo Ruiz Montes and Luke Scarmazzo are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court in Fresno. Their attorneys also will argue a motion for a new trial. Copyright: 2008 Associated Press 
http://www.ktvu.com/news/17421747/detail.html
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on September 08, 2008 at 11:57:58 PT
And another discursive habit that does not help us
The prohibs like to fudge the notion of "science" and make people think that ONLY double blind clinical trials constitute "science."That's how they convince themselves they're not liars when they claim there's "no science" -- they just mean that the clinical trial stage has been effectively blocked by the government.It does not help our cause to allow that confusion to persist. We should point out ALL studies and insist that the animal and in vitro research be discussed as "science" too.There's a huge and growing body of cannabinoid science that has yet to be tested on humans in clinical trials. But it still counts as science and the other side can't be allowed to pretend it's not there.
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Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on September 08, 2008 at 11:53:05 PT
It's ironic
He's saying the science is powerful, but he doesn't seem to get just HOW powerful the science has become.
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on September 08, 2008 at 10:51:38 PT
Rob is way too conservative about the science
Science he left off his list:- In vitro and animal studies show cannabinoids kill or shrink ten kinds of cancers. - Structure-activity profiles show cannabinoids kill MRSA. - Animal and in vitro studies show that cannabinoids make hippocampal brain cells grow, and block damage to the hippocampus from alcohol.- Cannabinoids block the gene that is believed to teach breast cancer cells how to metastasize.- Cannabinoids promote the activity of bone-growing cells and inhibit the activity of bone-destroying cells, pointing to a possible treatment for osteoporosis.- Animal studies show that endocannabinoid deficiency is the probable cause of PTSD.- Cannabinoids have been effective at treating people with schizoaffective disorder, depression and ADHD.NORML is doing the right thing by telling the world where cannabinoid science stands right now. The MPP seems to be promoting a notion of medical marijuana that is over ten years old. Nausea and pain relief are the tips of a very big iceberg. It seems like Rob is afraid to mention the iceberg.Hmmmmm. This could influence my donation budget.
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Comment #4 posted by potpal on September 08, 2008 at 08:33:09 PT
The crime
Is cannabis (and all things cannabis) prohibition.He concluded that the law didn't just permit moving marijuana to Schedule II, but required it.
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Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on September 08, 2008 at 07:56:36 PT
The Power of Words
George Orwell got it right:Ignorance is StrengthThe drug warriors can stop being ignorant about the efficacy of marijuana and begin to enlighten themselves.Smoking cannabis is ok.Cannabis can be of help to the terminally ill. It is not junk science, just junk laws.
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on September 08, 2008 at 07:18:11 PT
Politicians, Wake Up
Medical cannabis IS an issue http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread24152.shtml#54 
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Comment #1 posted by Storm Crow on September 08, 2008 at 06:21:48 PT
And if by some odd chance.........
You are interested in reading some of the medical studies that have been done, I have a nice "little" collection of them that can be viewed at either of these sites- http://boards.cannabis.com/medicinal-cannabis-health/159711-granny-storm-crows-list.htmlhttp://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=95659How can our government ignore all of that? Somehow they have managed it- the absolute denial of the facts and the studies that support them! To me it is pretty obvious! Cannabis is truly is the for the healing of nations- for what is a nation, but its people? Cannabis heals! 
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