cannabisnews.com: Pot Poll & Legislature Could Pave The Way for MMJ



cannabisnews.com: Pot Poll & Legislature Could Pave The Way for MMJ
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Pot Poll & Legislature Could Pave The Way for MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on December 08, 2010 at 06:07:24 PT
By Max Freund
Source: Daily Iowan
Iowa -- A new Hawkeye Poll shows the majority of Iowans are in favor of medical marijuana, and proposed legislation could make that a possibility. The poll — administered by UI professors and students — found 62 percent of Iowans are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana, which is in line with the results from other states.This finding comes on the heels of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy's unanimous decision to draw up legislation for the Iowa Legislature to consider when it reconvenes in Januar that would change the designation of marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 2 drug.
Schedule 1 drugs, such as LSD, are deemed as having no medical purposes, but changing the classification to Schedule 2 — the classification of many narcotics and amphetamines — recognizes the drug has some medical qualities.The board spent more than two years gathering information from patients and doctors regarding the drug, and it decided marijuana fits better in Schedule 2, said Lloyd Jessen, the board's executive director.The approach differs from 14 states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes without changing its classification, said Carl Olsen, an activist for medical marijuana.But reclassifying the substance paves the way for a stronger eventual legalization bill, he said.Olsen said the board should have proposed reclassifying the drug at a lower schedule because he said the members deemed marijuana as less likely to be abused than others in Schedule 2.Olsen also cited THC, the key mind-altering ingredient in marijuana, is slated as a Schedule 3."Everything else in there is just vegetable material," Olsen said. "If you are going to go out in your garden and smoke a broccoli plant, you are probably going to get the same lung damage from smoking marijuana."While Olsen said he was pleased legislation has been introduced, he is worried lawmakers who are wary of medical marijuana will vote against the bill to change the designation, even though designating pot as a Schedule 2 drug does not provide patients access to the drug.But some legislators are not convinced the two issues are separate."It is pretty clear that if the state is going to pursue a policy to allow people who suffer chronic pain access to medicinal cannabis, we are going to have to reschedule marijuana as has been proposed," said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City.And Jacoby told the Daily Iowan Editorial Board earlier this month that "the bill has no chance this year," even saying he doesn't expect it to get out of subcommittee.The piece of legislation doesn't directly address legalizing marijuana, but Kevin Leicht, a University of Iowa sociology professor who helped administer the recent poll, said participants views of legalization could influence lawmakers."I think the Iowa report is a bit more surprising and brings more attention to the Legislature because Iowans are viewed as very traditional people," Leicht said.Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu)Author: Max FreundPublished: December 8, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Daily IowanContact: daily-iowan uiowa.eduWebsite: http://www.dailyiowan.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/y7jYSLk8CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by sandybeach on December 12, 2010 at 11:35:44 PT:
cannabis's potential as a medicine
On second thought hold that idea just a bit.So cannabis was labeled a schedule one but it isn't ?Then it was made illegal on false pretense as i have suggested all along.How can this be ok?How could we be expected to believe that these men were not aware of cannabis's potential as a medicine.Surely they knew cannabis oil was used to treat many aliments before they made it illegal.I believe some one spoke up about this but was ignored .I am sure I could find a reference to how it was being sold as a medicine at the time it was made illegal.I believe his comment about his use of it as a remedy was documented .How could we keep this lie
about cannabis a law ?It just doesn't seem constitutional,or ethical.the men who made the law obviously wanted to make sure cannabis never competed with them . 
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Comment #5 posted by sandybeach on December 12, 2010 at 10:08:08 PT:
CANNABIS medicinal herb for thousands of years 
The last thing I would do is let pharmaceutical clubs have classification of it .Proves it was made illegal by people who did not know what they were doing to begin with.Especially in light of the fact there investors were responsible for making cannabis illegal to begin with. Its pretty clear the plant is non toxic and about as safe as aspirin.Why try to continue to classify it as a narcotic.It is an herb plant weed.Good lord some of the over the counter drugs sold in todays drug stores will knock me right flat out on my butt and i have a hard time believing these things are legal.Alcohol will make a person totally dysfunctional,yet its legal (its killing a lot of people too).Why don't we just skip all these baby steps to slowly begrudgingly still but not all together make it out right legal and get it the hill over with.Stop denying knowing the truth about cannabis having been a useful medicine for thousands of years.The people who made this plant illegal probably knew it was a cure for many diseases.This is why they made it illegal to begin with.The owners of the then pharmaceuticals industry were heavily invested in chemical pharmaceuticals and did not want the competition.Never hand the mouse back to the cat unless you want him to eat it.Never hand a plant to a company who had it made illegal to keep from competing with it,The results will be negative with intent to keep it illegal under still again false pretense .It like digging up a body and delivering the corps to the person who killed it.BigPharma could not patent the plant because it is straight from nature it would be like trying to own the rights to air or water or oak trees etc. This is how it should be.Cannabis and hemp should be as free as the air and water and remain uncontaminated free from REGULATION ,chemicals etc.(unlike the tobacco we let the government regulate and we all know how this turned out.  
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Comment #4 posted by Storm Crow on December 08, 2010 at 11:46:18 PT
They should put it where it belongs!
How about Schedule 5? Here's the criteria-  1. The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV.
  
 We all know cannabis is no more addictive than coffee!2. The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. It is medically accepted by California, Washington, Montana, Alaska, Colorado, Vermont, Hawaii, Nevada, Maryland, Maine, Arizona Michigan, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Washington DC. In addition, most polls have repeatedly indicated a 60%+ approval of medical use. That sure sounds like "currently accepted medical use" to me!
  3. Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV. Again, cannabis has a low potential for dependence or addiction.Cannabis has NEVER killed by overdose- aspirin kills over 500 Americans a year and may give kids Reye's Syndrome- a fatal neurological condition. So which needs to be restricted - aspirin or cannabis? If sanity prevailed, cannabis wouldn't even need a schedule number! Like tomatoes with their healthful lycopene, cannabis with it's healthful THC and CBD should be totally off the schedule! 
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Comment #3 posted by rastaman on December 08, 2010 at 10:47:28 PT
schedule 3???
I guess we gotta start somewhere no? schedual 2 would b a step in the right direction but in all honesty I don't think its even that serious either. 3 is the proper classification but even 3 is a bit of a hoax. When it starts killing people I will consider it dangerous. till then the sacred herb will be burning in my king size papers. jah bless
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on December 08, 2010 at 08:20:15 PT
Cannabis is not honestly a Schedule I substance.
"...the Iowa Board of Pharmacy's unanimous decision to draw up legislation for the Iowa Legislature to consider when it reconvenes in Januar that would change the designation of marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 2 drug." It is luciferous to label cannabis a Schedule I substance alongside heroin while meth and cocaine are only Schedule II substances.
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on December 08, 2010 at 07:15:02 PT
Uncle Sam serves exotic seafood!
That's right, if you think something stinks in the house of Washington, ,you are correct , Sir! Our dear old Uncle has been playing the roll of big brother for half a century. Our big brother is also in the mongering business of fish! Red Herrings to be exact. Red Herrings are his stock in trade in the WoD.Without dragging you'all on a Historic Mystery Tour making the case that our Uncle could care less about us by pointing out certain events like faux wars, industrial destruction of our environment, 20 million starving and homeless? You add to the list....I know you can.So now it comes to our medicine and uncle is concerned that we might like our medicine too much or that we may take something that is not good for us. [I know, bullets are not good for our kids either but that is another story.] Now isn't that concern for us touching? No, it is not.It has been the greatest Red Herring of the last century. It is all a hyped up ruse to keep Americans off the grass. The hemp grass that is! I am not bragging when I tell you I have a 140 IQ. Not the smartest guy on the block but I am not some mental troll living under a bridge, exactly?My point is I have enough smarts to figure out what would happen if the flood gates of a total open and free hemp commerce were to be unleashed upon the country. The short of it is , decentralization of wealth and power.All hemp agriculture, industry and consumption would be mostly local....get it!Hemp is so easy to process for fiber and fuel it could be a cottage industry unlike your big cotton mills and dye factories. Unlike your giant oil refineries hemp oil is burned, consumed after only filtering.So to keep us arguing about the efficacy of cannabis as a medicine, The safety of using it for a recreational drug, these things are all Red Herrings. When you have authority stand and tell you that black is white and day is night when you can see for yourself that you are being lied too....well then?One last thing, What you smell today, that putrid stench coming from Uncle Sam's Place, is the smell of a rotting, 70 year old fish!
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