Earlier today, United States DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart reaffirmed in the Federal Register the administration’s ‘flat Earth’ position regarding the medical properties of cannabis.
Responding to a nine-year-old petition to reclassify marijuana under federal law filed by a coalition of advocacy groups, including NORML and California NORML, Leonhart stated, “[T]here is no substantial evidence that marijuana should be removed from schedule I.”
A summary of Ms. Leonhart’s ‘reasoning’ is below. (Read the DEA’s full response here.)
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
21 CFR Chapter II [Docket No. DEA–352N] Denial of Petition To Initiate Proceedings
To Reschedule Marijuana
AGENCY: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice. ACTION:
Denial of petition to initiate proceedings to reschedule marijuana.
(1) Marijuana has a high potential for abuse. The DHHS evaluation and the additional data gathered by DEA show that marijuana has a high potential for abuse.
(2) Marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. According to established case law, marijuana has no ‘‘currently accepted medical use’’ because: The drug’s chemistry is not known and reproducible; there are no adequate safety studies; there are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts; and the scientific evidence is not widely available.
(3) Marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. At present, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved marijuana products, nor is marijuana under a New Drug Application (NDA) evaluation at the FDA for any indication. Marijuana does not have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions. At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.
Coalition advocates will be appealing Leonhart’s decision in federal court.
NORML had previously filed a similar rescheduling petition with the DEA in 1972, but was not granted a federal hearing on the issue until 1986. In 1988, DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled that marijuana did not meet the legal criteria of a Schedule I prohibited drug and should be reclassified. Then-DEA Administrator John Lawn rejected Young’s determination, a decision the D.C. Court of Appeals eventually affirmed in 1994.
A subsequent petition was filed by former NORML Director Jon Gettman in 1995, but was rejected by the DEA in 2001.
NORML will have additional information on this story in next week’s NORML media advisory.
FUCK DA DEA! SWAG!!!
I smell an ongoing government scandal! How much are they paying Ms.Leonhart?
All those lies she just came out with, one right after the other!
Anyone can see that she is a puppet on on string!
There is more than ample evidence of cannabis’ medicinal properties, it seems fear and greed are more important than compassion and truth to our entrusted officials. This is so undude.
The DEA knows that this WILL put a major hurt in Obama’s chances for re-election, and they don’t really care.
Bring on the HR 2306.
Benefits don’t outweigh the risks? I do believe it has been proven that those who regularly take anti-depressants have a spike in suicidal behavior. The “risk” they are trying to prevent IS suicide, yet those thoughts are the first side effect. Whereas with marijuana, you will take you marijuana product and calm down (much like the anti-anxiety pills) but without the increase in suicidal thoughts.
I think living outweighs death.
I’m not sure how to respond when all three statements are false.
More evidence needs to be gathered, but I can assure you that there is already plenty, especially from the UK, about the benefits and medical uses of Cannabis.
Jack-asses
#whyObama – you could have CHANGEd the World.
Marijuana has had accepted medicinal value for thousands of years.
Even those of us who have continued to back the current administration through all the hardships of the last few years, do no accept our governments view on this issue.
The will of the people will decide one day.
Yet another delay of obvious and needed change. Today is yet another sad day.
Unfortunately until corporations(now more of a person than us) want a change in the Marijuana policy the will of the American People ends up on deaf ears. While Our president just ignores the question.
“There is no other way to say this – so – I’ll just say it.”
Leonhart is out of her fucking tree. The fact that she is the head of anything scares the livin’ bajesus out of me.
“I do have but one more thing to say to her.”
The framers of the Constitution, recognizing “free exercise of religion as an unalienable right,” secured its protection in the First Amendment to the Constitution with the Establishment Clause. That’s the “ONLY LAW” Genesists intend to honor. Anything to the contrary – well! – “You can wipe your ass with it.”
I’m not suprised the CORRUPT Federal Gov’t. is continuing their lying regarding Cannabis. It’s funny how THEY hold a patent on “Medical Marijuana” yet claim it has no medical use. huh? What a hypocritical, immoral and blatant attempt to COVER UP the facts regarding this issue. The patent states that: “Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties” among other things. If this isn’t “medical value”, then I don’t know what is! Keep up the good fight…WE SHALL OVERCOME!
This is bullshit. What do we have to do to get these assholes out of office. I have a sever acute anxiety disorder and the only thing that works is the therapeutic relief of the green. I’ve tried almost everything else on the market, and it doesn’t do anything for me. It’s time for a revolution, the government has gotten too corrupt and self serving.
What does it mean that the “chemistry is not known and reproducible”? THC is the most studied of the cannbinoids. Its molecular structure and other physical and chemical properties, as well as how it affects the human body, is well known. If it’s not reproducible, how do you explain dronabinol? Man, the DEA is really reaching at this point.
Why isn’t this being brought up to the Supreme Court already?
There’re some psycho ass bitches up there in Warshington!
Cocaine is a Schedule II drug listed below marijuana.
Cocaine is addicting, extremely harmful, and can kill you. Marijuana has killed literally 0 people. There are so many scientific studies that prove everything we need to know about marijuana to list it lower. For christ’s sake! It’s not worse than COCAINE. It should NOT be listed with HEROIN.
When will they see what has been available for years now? It is harmless! And regarding abuse of any substance what about cancer causing cigarettes and cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol? Yet the federal government thought it wise to abolish that prohibition! This is NUTS!! I thought we were a ‘Free’ country with rights and liberties, yet our society would seek to force us into medical treatment that we do not agree with and would deny us the right to seek treatments thought wise. Where is the freedom when Gerson’s Therapy, proven in over 80 years of patient care to cure certain forms of cancer, and medical marijuana shown to help aide patients with debilitating conditions such as seizures and aids. I would never wish ill will upon anyone but when there is a man who can not go a day without grand mal seizures on conventional therapies and is relieved on medical marijuana I would think if they can not see that as reason enough then they should experience a year in his life. Additionally, the propaganda has already been disproved by current day research and the results speak for themselves. At the same point the legalization would have so many positive effects on our economic climate that is irrefutable! This could effectively solve so many issues including many financial woes for the farmers of Kentucky whom just want to make hemp for paper and clothing. Also, the amount of rain forest that could be saved from paper companies should be enough. Consider every species that resides within that forest. However, the DEA’s consideration only lies in self interest and they completely disregard the United States Citizens choice. This is a sad day in America.
tyranny doesn’t even try to hide
Do these people just make bad things up? Why none of the many positive things about the substance? If someone wasn’t really educated at all about the subject and read this they may believe that pot is bad.
Maybe you can get the guy who gets Government Marijuana provided for him from the government for pain to testify at this hearing. That alone would prove that the government has in FACT accepted its medical value in the past. Also reports from studies done world wide should be at hand to present as proof of medical marijuana benefits as a medicine. I hope we don’t run in guns blazing with no proof in hand. The guy that gets marijuana from the government for pain, seems to be willing to show up for the medical marijuana cause, so maybe contact him and ask if he will come to the hearing to testify, and maybe he can bring his government marijuana with him into the court room at the hearing. That would be AWESOME and hard core PROOF!!! Walk into the Court Room with Government Provided Medical Marijuana in hand as 100% PROOF!!! —– that medical marijuana has in FACT been approved by the United States Government. —- PEACE!!!
They can deny til they are blue in the face! What about the will of the people?
How they can say it has no medical benifit is beyond me, I dont know about you but anytime I have been sick or in pain from my diminished lower vertebrae the best cure was to smoke or eat cannibas….the government just does not want to admit they were wrong about cannibas for over 70 years
It appears Leonhart has tipped the DEA’s hand for the coming legal challenge.
Its current spin about clinical trials, safety studies, and the like attempts to now block cannabis by arguing for more / better scientific proof. The tobacco companies played this “calls for better science” game for generations, ultimately reaching for a “scientific standard” where it would be near impossible to even prove the sky was blue.
I have spent my career in developing new medical devices and I can see this coming a mile away, but I am not a lawyer. Perhaps a lawyer for our side can turn the tables and have the DEA held to the ever higher standards of proof supporting its exisiting schedule I classification and also argue for our favorite plant’s innocense until proven guilty. I don’t know.
Personally, after thousands of years of use without a single recorded fatality, I believe it should classified as a homepathic remedy, but to those preparing the appeal, PLEASE SEE THIS COMING from the DEA.
The real potential for abuse is the people who are arrested for using a benign herb.
No current accepted medical use in the United States cannot be correct because 16 states have medical marijuana.
I guess now I know why they call her MS. Leonhart. Uptight bitch.
1. false
2. false
3. false
will they ever learn? this is really ticking me off. Anyone else think big pharma is paying them off to say this nonsense?
The known risks of marijuana use: Lower profit margins for drug companies, having to buy through a drug dealer who will not card you but may offer you other drugs that are actually harmful, a society of calm peaceful individuals that actively use their brain, questioning authority and bogus laws, lower profit margins for alcohol and cigarrette producers, a country that is actually free and not a slave state.
Michele Leonhart: You are a liar when you state, “There is no substantial evidence that marijuana should be removed from Schedule One.” The DEA is only protecting it’s turf and continuing the assualt on people.
No fda regulated marijuana products? What the hell is marinol amd dronabinol or whatever? Those sure use marijuana to get made
OMG! MS. Leonhart is describing tobacco, is she not? Either that, or does she at least have a high school education? “The Earth Is Flat”, that’s a great analogy, NORML.
As for the lack of “scientific research”, 1) that’s an outright lie, and 2) the DEA has controlled research into cannabis since it was established in 1971. So, 3) obviously we have a Conflict of Interest here.
With the enormous budgetary problems this country is facing, it’s obvious to me the DEA exhibits a total lack of professionalism and a painfully sub-standard grasp on basic science. The DEA is an embarrassment, given this ruling.
It’s time the DEA was discontinued as an agency within the federal government. Seriously. A 6th grader has a better understanding of science and medicine than the DEA. No Way do I support another penny of my taxes going to this dept. of gov’t.
This is lunacy!!! I mean it. I’m am thoroughly embarrassed the world will be seeing how ignorant our country is, based on this statement so-called scientific conclusion.
JUST SAY CUT THE DEA OUT OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET!
If the DEA were my kiddo’s teacher I would unquestionably demand that the teacher be fired!!!
It’s not that the DEA denied the petition… it’s the total lack of any intelligence in their ruling. I work hard, pay my taxes and I demand a MUCH HIGHER STANDARD to my petitions than what the DEA Administration delivered.
Complete and total embarrassment. Tell me this is America and not: Iran, Saudi Arabian or Libya!
What was the reasoning by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 1994?
Unbelievable… I wish I was paid with American Taxes to bold-face lie to American Citizens. Does she know that the drafts of the Constitution were written on hemp? Of course she knows 🙂 it’s just better to lie about it.
“Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!”
-George Washington, The Writings of George Washington Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress), 1794
Michelle Leonhart should not be in charge of even waste disposal. This woman reaffirms day in and out that she is bought and paid for by the black market businessmen. Why someone whose job is to make money off prohibition should have any say in its legality is beyond logical comprehension.
Its so clear to me now.
“The drugs chemisty is not known
And reproducible.”
So if big pharma can’t copy it then.
Nobody is allowed to have it for free.
Down rite scary how our necks are chained.
These government prohibitionists are like a bunch of mindless parrots. They keep the marijuana ‘hot potato” up in the air without being held accountable for lying to the people.
And how can these government agency officials force prohibition with their policies that the public pays for and by doing so enrich themselves with a job in that agency for which they alone have oversight of its existence? In the public sector this is called a conflict of interest. This would be like if a person hired a home contractor who kept telling the client that there are more and more problems, which they twisted the truth and outright lied about problems, just to keep themselves employed on the job.
this is bullshit. come out with the real tests and show that there’s nothing wrong with weed. why is alcohol legal when its killing many lives both guilty and innocent? the worst you do while under the influence of canibis is raid the fridge and actually have a good time without side effects(hangover). anyone can drink, so anybody should be able to smoke. my father died from alcohol and was abusive and mean. I smoke weed and i feel more connected to god and more spiritual. this is corrupted, and unreasonable.
DEA and Washington needs to get a grip. If America would treat pot like alcohol, it could put people to work and bring in tax revenue. Medical cannabis or street pot CAN and DOES help with chronic pain brought on by disease and accidents.
(1) Marijuana has a high potential for abuse.
So does Oxycontin, Vicodin, Dexadrine and cough syrup containing Dextromethorphan.
(2) Marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
U.S. Patent #6630507
(3) Marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. At present, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved marijuana products, nor is marijuana under a New Drug Application (NDA) evaluation at the FDA for any indication.
So do the aforementioned drugs in #1. Once prescribed or purchased over-the-counter, the user can take as much as they want. Marijuana has not been approved by the FDA because the DEA blocks all research proving any positive use of marijuana.
because of alcohol’s high potential for abuse maybe we should consider rescheduling america’s most destructive substance. Lionfart keep drinking you hypocrite!
Maybe it’s time for the second civil war in America?
I am tired of not receiving the rights that I was told I have as a US citizen. The way our government acts reminds me of how the communists and fascists are remembered in history. Please remember all those that came before us. People shouldn’t fear their government’s response to their thoughts and ideals.
“The drug is not accepted by qualified experts.” Really? Considering that the American Medical Association has supported medical marijuana and numerous highly educated medical doctors are currently prescribing it, I wonder who exactly they consider to be experts. To me, a doctor who has completed a dozen or so years of medical school should be an expert enough to determine whether to prescribe this drug, and certainly more of an expert than a politician with a business degree.
Also, so what if it has a high potential for abuse. So does alcohol, caffeine, and donuts. Just because it is often abused does not mean that it is more or less dangerous than drugs that have a lower potential for abuse. Ricin has a very low potential for abuse.
And finally, “The scientific evidence is not widely available.”? I can find strong scientific evidence researched by reputable medical professionals without too much effort. In fact, it seems that just about every medical and psychiatric journal has published multiple articles on marijuana.
go away d.e.a.
Dumb
Effin
Assholes
To call the multitude of scientific research on the benefits of medical marijuana inconclusive is to say that the hundreds of medical doctors and mental health professionals who support medical marijuana and the dozens of academic journals publishing their articles are perpetrated by some deep-rooted conspiracy against presenting those with chronic and terminal diseases the highest quality of life, and if you believe that to be true, than you should probably find another country in which to live.
Really? I’d like to know what risks they’re talking about in part three. Here in Nebraska I’ve had enough experience to know that marijuana would greatly help the nausea and pain from my recent gall-bladder removal, but since I work for the state and am subject to random drug testing I’m taking oxycodone, getting migranes, and in general feeling like $#!@. Please help us.
In the Federal Register referenced above, the DEA states their own very self serving 5-point requirement list building in-part on what the DHHS generated. It is interesting that FDA has a relatively minor presence in the document. It is also interesting that DEA’s list is configured to require a profoundly expensive and protracted course of proof for acceptable medical use, and by DEA’s logic, even if proved safe and efficacious, it would only be for that one highly studied and possibly non-reproducible strain of the plant due to the plant’s genetic plasticity. By this logic, every fruit and vegetable in the country should be banned because of possible unknown compounds resulting from genetic variability from plant to plant.
I take my hat off to members of the coalition that will have to cut through all this garbage.
The whole thing smells like an evaluation by prison guards protecting their paychecks while big pharma positions itself to promote it’s singular isolated cannabinoid compound.
How many times do they have to say the same thing? No medical studies have affirmed medical properties to marijuana. Really? Then why are so many thousands of Americans seeking and getting relief from this non-addictive drug? And there are no studies because the federal government won’t allow them. Please, double-speak doesn’t work on intelligent people.
I’m just going to give my opinion here. Marijuana is a recreational drug – like alcohol. It should be legalized and treated as such. This medical tactic is just that – a tactic. But maybe baby steps are necessary. What do I know.
Ummm I got a question,
“At present, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved marijuana products,”
what about Marinol, It’s the pure isomer of THC that’s used as an anti-nausea med in advanced cancer cases, and wouldn’t that also be that then the drug is:
“The drug’s chemistry is not known and reproducible” when it is?
what a dumb bitch
Hey it must be rejection day for MJ because a local ballot initiative to decrim a small amount of marijuana was rejected by the City of Tucson yesterday.
Read all about it and I’m one of the campaign managers and this is touching off a firestorm with some of our citizens who want to have a sensible policy in our city.
http://azstarnet.com/article_8ed6bf2b-6225-5a52-9887-510aef3ac6c1.html
“She has proven her leadership to be anti-science, pro-lying, pro-death and destruction, and devoid of competence, so the Senate decided she was perfect for this job”
~ Pete Guither DWR
Arbitrary and Capricious OiNkDeCePtions
Zero tolerance is as bad to the Neocons as legalizing. I never supported Obombo or sir Hilary. But I also never banked on his past statements to mean anything positive either. The only reason for Prop 19 is to sell pot. Not a bad thing unless it tweaks 215. The Compassionate Use Act already covers anyone for any reason, including caregivers. No limits other than what you think you require. It also covers 18 to 21 year olds mature enough to shoot Iraqi kids but not old enough to smoke a joint. That’s why imo 19 will fail again. Many sat by while the 215 initiative was disregarded by the republicans wilson and lungren.
Note. Compassionate Use Act not the MMJ Act
After Klinton and Junior, the explosion of buyers clubs hit LA and Oakland and many were only in it for the money. Still are. They are not covered under Prop 215, and that is who you hear whining now. Blame Obombo for being a typical Kratzy jerk off war monger moneyslut wannabe all you want but he didn’t lie about his intentions. He isn’t busting individuals or their caregivers. We have to forget normal politics concerning the Ganjawar. This war only profits if it continues. It only keeps natural alternatives off the market shelves if it continues. “Treatment” pays, Cures and Prevention kill profits.
D.E.A. Confirms Grounds To Remove Marijuana From Sched#1
Drug Czar Manipulating Data in a Report to Congress
Politicians are sleezeballs right next to DA’s, religionists cops and legislating judges. There isn’t much doubt the Drug Tzar is bound by law to lie. Obombo has the Commerce Claus to ward off Buyers Clubs. If he could wipe out stoners into Koch Bros telemandatory marketing profits they would. If the 10th Amendment didn’t instruct states to decide on individuals they’d of included them in the Gonzo v Raich decision. Prop 215 engages the 10th Amendment. So each state should incorporate their own initiatives. But to save any integrity for the country the ultimate goal should be to overturn Cannabis and Hemp as schedule#1 Narcotics, if not, scrap the entire CSA and dissolve and investigate the ONDCP and their subsidiaries.
The Effect of Controlled Substances Scheduling on Research
Is The DEA Legalizing THC?
Every time we relinquish checks and balances for single human dictatorial governance we end up with corruption and arbitrary decisions that serve a minority or the status quo government and corporate interests. Anslinger, McCarthy, Janet Edgar Hoover, Nixon, Clinton, Cheney Boosh or these dea flying monkey’s serving the Tzars. If we don’t stop repeating History then we shouldn’t gripe when we end up with the same results. Leonhart has no Democratic or American authority to determine the scheduling of a substance. Politically obedient cops are a menace to society and should be classified as schedule #1 dangerous, addictive poisons. Science has already determined cannabis is medicinal and the safest substance in the entire pharmacopeia. Lyingheart is slaving for job security. Pitifools on display.
Michele M. Leonhart (Lying Heart)
Committee blocks Leonhart nomination
So the Apothecaries, Coops and dispensaries (Buyers Clubs) are perhaps unjustly classed, but still classed as Commerce and subject to the Feds Commerce Claus determination. But that is what the GOPerverted supremes ruled in Gonzo v Raich. I still claim that doesn’t include individuals and the following articles seem to agree. So regardless of the bogus DEAth mongers arbitrary and capricious decisions to disregard Medicine and Science for profits and power. We can toke all we want under state law. Just can’t sell it. Good incentive for the Ganja profiteers to lobby to disolve the ondcp and its evil minions. It also sends a message for any stragglers believing in politicians. That bogus legislation will somehow be redeemed by the same crooked system doing the abuse. The same system reaping the rewards paid by tax payers. Perpetuating the drug war and the jobs maintaining it. Like Mikal Lyinghart. Sickening state of affairs. Off with their heads!
Obama Admin Memo on Medical Marijuana Stirs Dismay
The medical marijuana movement is reeling after the Obama Justice Department released a memo last week declaring that it might prosecute large-scale medical marijuana cultivation operations and dispensaries even in states where they are operating in compliance with state laws.
The memo, written by US Deputy Attorney General James Cole, “clarifies” the October 2009 memo from then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden that told federal prosecutors not to focus their resources on patients and providers in compliance with state laws.
No One is Outside Federal Marijuana Laws, US Says
A memo from the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington says state laws allowing medical marijuana opened the door to abuses and calls for legally targeting “large-scale, privately operated industrial marijuana cultivation centers” as well as distribution operations known as dispensaries.
Medical-Marijuana Advocacy Group Sees Loophole
The memo does warn that those who “facilitate” large-scale medical-marijuana production are violating the federal Controlled Substances Act.
I am SO happy to live in an enlightened age and that I can trust my government!
<img src="http://i34.tinypic.com/2h6645h.jpg" height="355" width"209"
Marijuana is a natural, organic plant that has existed on earth since the creation of organic life and therefore will never be removed from the solar eco-system. Governmental law-enforcement will do nothing to stop it’s continued use among legal and illegal induviduals anywhere on this planet that it is being enjoyed, studied, used for internal/spiritual, personal reflection and insight, and recreational pleasure enjoyment.
The outdated, limited perspective of marijuana’s use and cultivation/manufacturing by grow operations, down to the dealer or store seller of this particular plant must be updated, to reflect the present-day intelligence of the casual and professional marijuana user/connoisseur. Men and women can indulge in many other more harmful pharmaceutical pills and substances with condoned ease from pharmacists and doctors due to the personalized perspective of the permitting or limitation of whatever the medical profession sees allowable or prohibited.
But-
In true fact, it cannot kill human beings by overusage. It just causes enhanced sleep. It also is not physically dangerous to touch or smell, to any human being with normal, functional sensory intake. Marijuana is from a seed which grows in the ground, and becomes bigger and blossoms with sunlight and water. The chemistry explanation to this should be evident to ANY SCIENTIST THAT CLAIMS THEY HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF NATURE AND BOTANY.
I also would like to say that, synthetic marijuana substances will never replace the original and actual natural application of the plant to the physical human body. If a substitute is created, it will be profoundly different from the plain, pure strains and cross-breeds and concoctions of natural marijuana.
If the medical profession was to take seriously the positive and potential economic and entrepreneurial AND health-related issues necessary to understand the purpose and intention behind marijuana usage and convenient, (legal) consumption, they would gain intelligence in the fields of:
1-personal pleasure.
2-pain control and reduction.
3-mental medicine for certain non-damaged brain problems.
4-sexual and social personality enhancement.
5-educational and artistic application of it’s benefits.
6-spiritual and intellectual energy empowerments.
7-private life relaxation and recreation.
8-emotional cleansing and body function re-correction by atomic and chemical process procedured enabled by the moderated (yet unlimited) use of the marijuana plant.
It is only the guns, knives, money thieves and societal propaganda that makes legislative control of this particular plant necessary due to the lower level ignorance of the general public’s refusal to use this natural plant like mature, educated, safety-aware adults in a peaceful society of intellectual thinkers.
Police and the army do not make any improvements with their incessant damnization of a harmless substance.
The individuals that do crime to enjoy this substance are the actual ones who make use, enjoyment and educational enhancement unable to be done peacefully and properly in public or private, because of criminal force and illegal business practices of mafia manufacturing of an eternal natural resource of humankind that has been developing and evolving over millennia, but will change, once the laws of society change and be upgraded to the level of knowledge in the 2011 living world on this planet.
Sell them like cigarettes, have smoking areas and do not let anyone under the age of 25 (or 30) ever have this marijuana plant. Curated, packaged, prepared and measured for moderate, miraculous enjoyment and education for the legal adult in a modern world.
I would like to see the government use a mentality of the people that will make life better for US, once YOU/THEY conform to OUR ways of life and laws of natural love for plants and foods.
(make cookies and tea with it, too)
Khari Stewart. 2011
Legalize it.
Funny how people with so much power aren’t up for election at all. Gives the people no chance of getting rid of somebody like this unless we HAPPEN to get the actual presidential administration to change and even then we have no say in who comes in next.
The libertarians are right: smaller government is needed.
Well now what did yall expect to happen. Did you really think the D.E.A would rescale this drug. Come on yall wake up and smell the coffee.
It’s time for the Fed to step up to the plate and allow scientific testing of Cannabis since so many people are medically dependant on it. It’s the Fed’s responsibility “and what we pay them for” to provide access to obtain scientific research to confirm this wonderful medicine doesnt have negative side affects. The Fed should be concerned that medical Cannabis patients arent harming themselves by using this wonderful Cannabis plant but instead they are jumping up and down swearing it has no medicinal value when in fact MMJ patients know better because they are the proof. They have yet to claim Cannabis is bad for our health like they do with cigarettes, alchohol, and KS Spice. If Cannabis has no medicinal value then why does the Fed have it patented as medicine. The Fed doesnt want us to have good medicine that has no ill side affects and will help us live a long and productive life because we will quit buying their special interest big pharm drugs that are killing us off. They have brain washed people into thinking the pill option is best because thats what fills their coffers. Fed is trying to stay in control of your very life and final dollar and to legalize Cannabis would be to free us from their rapture and allow us to be healthy by our own decision.
Two steps forward, one step back.
This “flat earth” thing has some stuff going for it… I wonder if anybody told Leonhart that we all know he’s lying to himself. Lie to me all you want, but what kind of person lies to themselves?
Ms. Leonhart, you forgot reason #4
(4)The anti-cannabis lobby makes too much money keeping cannabis illegal, therefore we cannot examine reasons 1,2, and 3 truthfully.
WELL FOR THOSE WHO ARE NON VIOLENT OFFENDER’S…WHO HAS A FELONY FOR GROWING THIER OWN CAUSE WE CAN’T GET A JOB.!!!…AND THAT’S THE ONLY THING ON OUR RECORD..!! NOT EVEN A DMV TICKET…IT’S OK LEOINHART CAUSE WE CAN NOW ONLY MAKE A LIVING GROWING POT SO IN 1 WAY IT’S KINDA GOOD…AS THE DEEP WATER CULTURE IS GREAT AND IT’S SUMMER BONUS CROP ….AS THE SONG GOES….AND THE BEAT GOES ON…AND THE BEAT GOES ON….AND DEA MADE THE CARTELS VERY HAPPY IM SURE THEY WERE AFRAID OF LOSING MONEY SO LET’S FIGHT THE WAR WE HAVE LOST FOR ONLY 4O YR’S 1 DAY IT MIGHT WORK DUMB ASS’ES…!!!CASH CROP GREEN CARDS ONLY..LMAO..
These assholes in the Federal government are there to thwart the will of the American people,the 180 club has done what they are payed to do,keep their jobs, the hell with the constitution and the American people.They could’nt care less what the majority thinks.I’m sure I could’nt care less what they think either.
The DEA officials who stand against the growing body of scientific evidence that marijuana has therapeutic and preventive applications remind me of Lester Maddox who stood in the doorway of a public school with an axe handle, threatening any black kids who tried to integrate. Ignorant, self-serving creeps who will be identified as villians when the full truth about marijuana’s vast benefits are made public! Read “Marijuana Gateway to Health” coming in August.
“Responding to a nine-year-old petition to reclassify marijuana under federal law filed by a coalition of advocacy groups,” ……So it took nine years to respond to this petition. I wonder why so long? Thats pretty lame. Seems to me like this would be plenty of time for scientists to answer all the questions Leonheart says haven’t been answered. Our country will not survive much longer anyway since it was founded upon the basis that the government was designed to serve the public. I see the public serving the governemet and we are not free and will be more and more suppressed if we keep serving the government that doesn’t listen or care about what the proletariat thinks. The only way to fix this mess is for everyone to quit paying taxes at the same time. Politicians and civil servants don’t do anything while they are getting paid. i.e. Nine years to respond to a petition? I wonder what they would do if they were not getting paid.
Oh and never forget that most of the politicians running our country are lawyers. And of course everyone should know by now that lawyers are no more than ….. Professional Liars. So thats what we are up against.
Jesus christ, what’s it gonna take?? Millions of people marching up to the dea with guns and force them to end any more failure of this drugwar. How fucking dumb do you have to be to continue the same insane policies. Insanity is doing one thing over and over and expectnig different results…. Legalize the herb and shrrooms and lsd. You want a subbstance that has a high rate of abuse~ ALCOHOL, Ciggarets, War, greed. put all those in the schedual ONE category fucking douche bags.
Just keep in mind Obama was behind this idiot. We need to start voting out any politician who does not support the full legalization of marijuana, regardless of party affiliation.
“U.S. Patent # 6630507.
In 2003 The U.S.A.’s Government as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a patent on cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. U.S. Patent 6630507.”
http://tinyurl.com/6hwwmt
Need I say more! It appears to be a conflict of interest for the Feds, DHHS, to take the continued position cannabis has no ACCEPTED medical use! According to their OWN patent, cannabinoids DO have accepted medicinal uses in the U.S. If cannabis has no accepted medical use in the U.S., I ask then, how where they granted the patent?
http://montanabiotech.word?press.com/
Marijuana has no more abuse potential than cigarettes,alcohol,cigars,pipe tobacco and etc. Lame attempt,again. So expected. Cigarettes have no medical value except when their killing and that puts money in their pocket. Perhaps if marijuana were really dangerous they would accept it. We the People know what and see that marijuana is your prize toy and that there is no real reason for fed.govt interference.
Let’s conduct an experiment:
Have the DEA do a comparison study of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, and let them judge recreational and religious use of all three of those commodities to be based on their findings ?
DEA: Use of one of those commodities must be based and permitted within a scope of medicinal safety and proven scientific value. Potential for addiction and abuse must be considered.
DEA; FINDINGS:
1) ‘Having conducted extensive scientific research in a timely manner based on CITIZEN demand we found:
Alcohol: Extremely High potential for abuse and destructive behavior when more than 1 or 2 established units – 1 or two beers was consumed. Medicinal value also declines after one or two units. High potential for genetic disposition among population to go beyond the 1 or two units considered safe. Medicinal value only within tightly controlled use of 1 or two units. Potential for overdose on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most likely: value = 8
Tobacco: Extremely high potential for abuse and addiction. No safe level for use. No medicinal value except euthanasia, high cost to society for any use. Potential of overdose = 10 when considering there is no safe margin of use.
Cannabis: Too many medical uses to substantiate at this time. Used safely for 1000’s of years. Potential for abuse low. Detriment to society: Low. Potential of overdose = 0. Addiction potential is psychological only; very low potential for physical addiction. Safer than above two commonities when used for recreational or religious purposes.
2) DEA:
Based on our research into the the above three recreational and religious commodities we have determined:
Alcohol is unlikely to be used within a safe margin of responsibility, is very difficult to control use or medicinal value, and therefore we give it a thumbs up for use by society!
Tobacco: No safe margin of use or control. No medicinal value except to cause premature death. We find tobacco to be of particular concern to the safety of American citizens and give it a thumbs-up!
Cannabis: Safe, low potential for abuse, many potential uses. Overdose potential = 0. No question, thumbs-down on this commodity. There’s money to be made in the Black Market for this plant, a WAR to to waged against American Citizens wishing to use it! And Big Pharma could heap huge rewards from patented drugs based on this plant. WE, the feds are going to cash in on this commodity! Cannabis is hereby sentenced to Schedule One Status for LIFE.
The End.
besides giving the drug cartels the go ahead they are running our great nation into the ground http://www.tenthamendment.com Nullify Now
http://www.tenthamendment.com,Whats wrong with you people?
When you have exhausted every defense – elaborated every lie – perpetrated every fraud, and can go no further – without being committed to a mental health unit – what comes next?
“Right! – you go for your pound of flesh.”
You cannot say that that law enforcement has been “non-violent” Appropriately – “be prepared” to cover your backside. You don’t have to seek revolution – your revolution is coming to you – as we speak.
Ok I’m tired of this nonsense WE THE PEOPLE need to take our country back from the money hungry,ignorant,crooked politicians that run it today……
This is why we need everyone to learn more about politics and who we elect in office. Lets get theses clowns out of office once and for all.
You got that time on Freedom Watch scheuled already right. That’s why I pay extra on my sat tv. To see you with rhe Judge. Seems they’ve moved broadside. How will you respond.
If you want to see what I’m talking about – search “Gods of the Modern World” by Jose Clemente Orozco.
It’s illegal because we can’t study it. We can’t study it because its illegal.
Physicians have two concerns re: Cannabis
1 – Ingestion by smoking
2 – Consistency of dosing
Both of these real concerns can be addressed by any adult.
The DEA is officially at war with me. I won’t go without a fight.
If you do not like what DEA says, then why not you organize a massive protest demanding her to remove marijuana from DEA’s schedule? Just bother them as much as you can. Parade there everyday. Stop all cars and trucks on street.Hassle them until DEA caves in. If they decide to shoot you, then time to riot there until they decide it is too expensive to continue shooting.
How does a law enforcement agency hijack the rights to grant or revoke whether substances are legal or not?
We have no rights when it comes to the war on drugs
This is ridiculous. Just this week I made a web page aggregating the dozens of studies showing that marijuana has strong anticancer properties:
http://www.squidoo.com/hemp-oil-cancer-cure
This is tons of evidence that marijuana can cause the regression and even remission of tumors. Sure there is no clinical evidence yet, but that’s only because NIDA has been blocking any research that might show a potential benefit.
really the evidence is not available so how did the U.S. Government get a Patent on the Medicinal uses of Cannabis?? what was the evidence they used to get this patent on the medicinal values?? or can anyone just get a patent on things that do not have proof and evidence?
I think the reason the DEA and other administrations have the balls to outright lie to the American public, is because they are not scared of us. They know, at this moment we won’t get out and ‘fight for our rights’ Us as a country are too comfortable to do anything. We don’t want to fight our increasingly fascist government. This government is going to hold onto this crazy drug policy as long as they can. I have made a personal choice to do what I think is right. I WILL smoke cannabis and grow it as much as I want. I’m over waiting for the rest of America to get angry with us. Live your life people, do what you want…and if we all continue to defy this fucked law, then maybe one day we’ll be too big to stop.
all what you all are saying are great but the evidence to legalize it and the evidence on the medicinal value of it is right in the U.S. Government Patent http://1.usa.gov/oJExR1 we dont need to search for evidence of its value, the u.s. government already patented it
It’s very simple, its impossible to win in a system thats entirely corrupt from top to bottom, They say its a just system but look at the controlling parties. The’re all conservatives who have had 100 generations of people saying NO to everythin. They dont want to hear the facts, they figure they can just make them up as they go along and there’s no way to dispute them since the parties involved in the dispute will once again be the same conservative judges who have sided with them in the past and will do so again.
Actually, marijuana has a high potential for “use”, but in DEAspeak, use=abuse.
1. The supreme court decides what to hear and what not to hear
2. A federal court will not allow medical testamony of any reference.
3. The government is corrupt and hypocrites, and they lie.
VOTE LIBERTARIAN – It won’t hurt you or kill you. Oh, and we out number them, just think about it.
its no more about the people its about the big companies and those with the money. they will not let this happen until they find a way to make them rich. they dont care about the people. and i for one am sick and tired of our goverment doing the will of the rich over the will of the people.
Our government knows what they are saying is BS. Too many people are making money from it being illegal. Thats not going to change. MJ users are nonviolent people. They are easy pickings and their lives mean absolutely nothing to them.
Droz
v/s
The City of Santa Barbara
The City of Santa Barbara has failed to provide 24/7 Taxi zones to park in . The result has been more & more moving and parking violations to most all Taxi drivers . There is no other reason to believe that this was done intentionally by the City of Santa Barbara to gain revenue to pay a corrupted City Government with total disregard & disrespect for Taxi drivers whom they must consider weak / defenseless /vulnerable and who often make less in one day then what the penalties are for a single ticket . There are many places they could open up for Taxi zones yet they have
refused to do so because they are making money off of Cab & Limo drivers through the issuance of citations . There are no places to pick & drop off your passengers legally often without having to drive for blocks ( if there are any places at all ) upsetting your passengers resulting in more tickets to fatten the pockets of a corrupted City Government .
Our goal is not only to win this case and the ones that will follow but to expose the corruption that is existing within the City of Santa Barbara .
Please bring your tickets and show your support by being in Court on, July 20th, 2011 at 1:15 P:M: . The address is, 1108 Santa Barbara Street, Department #14 – Santa Barbara, Ca. / Case # 1381513
It seems there is more than one place where corruption exsists . Anyone out in the Santa Barbara area……we need your support by being in Court at above mentioned date .
In 2011, the Washington Post reported that “994 people younger than 18 were killed in drug-related violence between late 2006 and late 2010” and that “[i]n 2009, the last year for which there is data, 1,180 children were killed, half in shootings.” In response to these statistics, Leonhart declared that while it “may seem contradictory, the unfortunate level of violence is a sign of success in the fight against drugs.”
Omg, what new type of drug is she on? She is downright delusional! She makes me sick!
Ron Paul 2012!! (and I don’t even live in the States…)
This was inevitable from the moment mr. “hope and change” nominated Leonhart to head the DEA as she did for Bush. That nomination revealed Obama to be just another cannabis prohibitionist who is willing to lie about the plant for his own political purposes. What a waste it was to think he was different. He will be a one term president, though, because of the economy and because he has alienated many of the people who supported him last time around. I doubt he is going to replace us with members of conservative prohibitionist groups. They don’t much like him either. It’s hard to see his political strategy. It seems to me that he could have kept us on board with small progressive changes far short of legalization. Oh well. Soon we’ll be back to a Republican president who hates us but at least doesn’t pretend otherwise. Rick Perry, anyone?
I can’t say anything more than whats already been stated on this hypocritical, asinine report… other than…
Guess I’ll light me one up and the fed can kiss my arse.
Keep up the fight people. This is nothing but a road block that we will crash through.
I think one of the reasons it has not been made legal is they can’t figure out a way to test if someone is driving while using, as they have with DWI’S. It stays in your system too long and there is no way to tell how long it has been since you smoked, how much you have smoked or how impaired you may be. There is no way the govt. and law enforcement will let this happen unless they have an alternate way to put you in jail for something they don’t approve of. Also the same applies to people at work. How are employers to know whether or not their employees are using while on the job? If that road block can be worked through then it may stand a chance. It’s the one topic I never see discussed anywhere, from either side. Just a thought.
The People’s President: Gary Johnson 2012
@#97, Jayman: What are our alternatives in 2012 to Obama? A Republican?
YES to Gary Johnson, a potential for Ron Paul until I received literature in the mail he wants to overturn Roe vs Wade, “Life before Freedom”, and although I can appreciate his ideal, I don’t want to overturn Roe vs Wade and end up with women getting illegal abortions.I will vote Gary Johnson at at the primaries, but unless a miracle happens, it will prove futile.
@#86, Sally:
It is true we are currently pacifists when it comes to our rights, and fighting for them.On one of our hands – that is true. On the other hand, there are ways to wage a counter-war against the warlords in Washington, precisely because we have the technological means to do it! And we are doing it. We simply need to “go to Warp 10″… so CMD. Scott… We Need MORE POWER, Please!!!
There’s no question this report by the DEA is a wake-up call, and we need to fight. But what amazes me is we now have the means to conduct a non-violent protest the likes the federal government has never seen, and from which, as citizens, it is powerless to block or ignore.
The internet gives us that power. Write your representatives. Use search-engines to find and browse sites with cannabis related or K2 related merchandise, or information… sites dedicated to legalization… all of this is tracked… and all our searching sends a message to large corporations who in turn lobby the federal government.
If you search for beer, follow it with a search for cannabis. If searching for medicines, follow by search for cannabis and medicinal use.
Place comments on all sites devoted to legalization or those promoting prohibition, and example of the latter is NIPITINTHEBUD.COM, sponsored by Michelle Leonhart of the DEA.
There is a WAR Against American Citizens taking place on the Ground in the USA today. That is a fact, and a violation of our Constitutional Rights. The DEA is the military conducting this war on US. Demand that the federal government cut funding to and dismantles the DEA. It is a diseased member of the federal government. A disease that began in 1971. It needs to be eliminated.This recent ruling, the denial to reclassify cannabis from it’s current Schedule One status is not based on science, commonsense, or truth. It is a rubber stamp. It is an insult in the year 2011 to all Americans, that a branch of our gov’t refuses to use truth and science in determining justice.
It is making the USA an embarrassment to the rest of the world… it promotes the USA as being substandard in science, human rights and freedom.
Demand an end to the DEA. It’s time that dept gets cut from the federal budget and no longer gets tax-dollars we pay.
Stop The Hurt…
Leonhart was hired *because* she agrees with the prohibition. Those who interviewed her straight up said “we want someone who agrees with this policy”. She was NOT hired to take an open-minded view on how marijuana should be controlled.
Given the number of people being arrested and the number of people being mutilated and murdered in Mexico as a result of the prohibition, it is a disgrace that she was hired like this and it is an outrage that we can do nothing about it!
You wanted a war, you just got aholes.
Include this argument in your upcoming media advisory: reschedule marijuana at the state level, then petition the federal government. That will solve federal interference with state medical marijuana laws.
http://weedpress.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/dea-denies-rescheduling-petition-advocates-plan-appeal/
this shouldnt surprise anyone…basically what these people think is that ALL those who use cannabis for medical reasons are all just using it as an excuse to get high…as a criminal justice major i find that this attitude is also prevalent…especially among cops…
The last paragraph is funny Marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. “At present, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA)-approved marijuana products, nor is marijuana under a New Drug Application (NDA) evaluation at the FDA for any indication.”
so i guess “marijuana” who ever that is, is going to have to file with the govt…for crying out loud they are talking about a plant like its some drug manufacturer….it just goes to show how disconnected these people are….they know the truth, it just suits them to tell us lies and misinformation….
it seems like this would be a no-brainier in a federal court. All the reasons listed for denying reschedule are either false or unrelated reasoning (or both).
but then, there may be a number of federal judges with no brains.
“There is no substantial evidence that marijuana should be removed from schedule I.”
This I think is the most profound and telling of the whole response.
We’re not supposed to be a country that requires its people to provide evidence of innocence, or they are assumed to be guilty.
NOW WE HAVE THE THE MOST PERFECT REASON TO STICK IT UP THEIR ASSES. ITS CALLED “FAST AND FURIOUS” THE U.S. GUN SMUGGLING TO MEXICO WHICH INVOLVED U.S. ATTORNEY HOLDER, JANET NAPOLITANO, ATF, DEA, CIA,FBI, AND THE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA(HES THE PRESIDENT HE HAD TO KNOW ABOUT IT AND SIGN OFF ON IT. THIS RESULTED IN DEATHS OF COUNTLESSY INNOCENT VICTIMS. THEY SAY THEY ARE FIGHTING A WAR ON DRUGS WHILE DECIEVING US BUT NOW WE HAVE PROOF. WE NEED TO FIGHT THIS CROOKED GOVERNMENT AND NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT.
[Editor’s note: Writing comments in only CAPITAL letters is not done…]
2009 Stats:
DEA Employees 10784
Annual Budget 2.415 billion
2011 Stats:
Guns owned by american 200000000?
Americans pissed off by this crap 50000000?
Seek the truth, resist lies based solely on monetary gain and control of the masses. Class warfare from the classless enforced by gulags. Which to trust? Truth from “lesser beings” or outright lies and deceit from the “high and mighty” bigots that perpetrate death, destruction and misery. Remember their are more of us (majority) than their are of you (minority). I don’t care how much control/power you think you have. One minute here the next gone. Facts and the truth have never distracted corrupt (wo)men from gaining that which they were born to restrict. The will of the people. We see you for what you are…..you cannot hide forever.
#1 Why are they allowed to take so long to issue a response?
That’s bullshit.
#2 Why are they not forced to consider the medical evidence?
That’s bullshit, too.
It’s like each one of these asshole DEA heads looked at the first denial, and copied off it to issue the new denial.
102. Jillian Galloway
“It is an outrage that we can do nothing about it!”
There is something that we can do about it. We can fail to vote for those who had anything to do with appointing and confirming her. There’s a bunch of corrupt politicians with their heads on the chopping block. They know what we don’t know – but – we know what they don’t know. The suspense is killing me – if they don’t first.
It’s time for the American people to become the paparazzi of “corrupt politicians.” It’s time to expose their every move, their every breath, and the label on their underwear – which I’m sure is as dirty as they are. Let’s try “expose.com.” We can’t leave everything up to Jesse Ventura.
The DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart is a very bad joke on the Obama administration. This shows how stupid he really is.
Time to step up and make this injustice part of the past. Time to put this Jim Crow law to rest, sign on with us and we can get this done.
http://www.change.org/petitions/let-the-end-marijuana-prohibition-act-get-a-hearing
William Buckley…
June 29, 2004, 12:07 p.m.
Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great. The laws aren’t exactly indefensible, because practically nothing is, and the thunderers who tell us to stay the course can always find one man or woman who, having taken marijuana, moved on to severe mental disorder. But that argument, to quote myself, is on the order of saying that every rapist began by masturbating.
General rules based on individual victims are unwise. And although there is a perfectly respectable case against using marijuana, the penalties imposed on those who reject that case, or who give way to weakness of resolution, are very difficult to defend. If all our laws were paradigmatic, imagine what we would do to anyone caught lighting a cigarette, or drinking a beer. Or — exulting in life in the paradigm — committing adultery. Send them all to Guantanamo?
Why can they continue to lie?
Politicians are a disease.
I should be upset but Im not. Im actually smiling right now. The days of the FED are numbered and they know it. They are desperete, and their sad, sick desperation may very well be their downfall. Happens everytime. History proves it. Should I get out my violin now or later? When people as bullheaded as the FEd cling to ignorance, the only outcome is self destruction. It’s gonna be epic. Im getting my popcorn.
Deny, deny, deny. They flaunt their power forgetting we have yet to realize ours. We the people are capable of recognizing the truth. It is dangerous for them to expose that they are the broken cogs keeping this society from running free from corruption. 325,000+ people. How long do they expect us to tolerate this? VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
The only reason I have been able to lead a “norml” life with my severe IBS is because of cannabis. My only other option are opioids, liver and kidney toxicity are not OK with me.
So, is my statement that Obama IS against medical marijuana still ridiculous, Russ?
I’m still waiting for any sign that proves I’m a fool for saying such a thing…
The second that Biden was named Obama’s VP should have sent a loud and clear message that nothing would change. Obama only cares about the votes of the old bigots, and corrupt unions, since he thinks that non-whites will automatically vote for him…
It’s too bad Republicans are so in love with Romney, so basically it’s like they WANT Obama in office for 2 terms…
Another no brainer by the FDA and the DEA and DOJ.
My triple-great grandmother used it for her mestrual
cramps, Carl Sagan used it to help him concentrate, Willie Nelson went from hard alcohol to using weed, and it probably saved his life. Every medical organization supports it, even Fed Law Admin Judge Francis Young, after two years of extensive study ruled it to be the safest, most theraputic medicine on Earth, and to top it all off every Governmental Study ever done indicates its medical value. Washington DC is being run by Big Pharma legally bribing people in key positions to block any legislation that would help millions to benefit from medical marijuana for noting more than greed, and profits. It was the same with slavery! greed, and profits. You can smell the stench coming from Washington D.C around the World!
@#127, Prince C.
I’m sure you have a story to tell too. I hope to hear it. And to grease the wheels, here’s a short version of my story:
Beat up for the 1st time at age 4 acroos the quiet street where I grew up. A neighborhood kid. Not his fault… I had that kind of face – one of wonderment, surprise, fascination.
I was plagued by bad allergies and illnesses growing up, a small kid, the “underdog”, fair game.
I had a girlfriend for a week in MS. None in HS; loved reading and science, but remember all the bullies after me rather than much of the science.
By the time I graduated HS – and yes, I hung in there, I was pretty numb. I had a history as a child of peeing my bed, fascination with fire as I built a cardboard house in my basement, age 6, got a pain of water, and lit it on fire. My mother caught me as I was trying to pick up the burning inferno and dunk it in the H2O. My father took me to visit the town’s fire chief… that was the end to my fascination with fire.
Next came animals… just animals… no nothing gross, but there might have been. As a kid growing up my neighborhood friends and I got BB guns, we killed birds. We called each other with tallies. The 4 of us. And it was all I could do to keep up.
Sick, but accepted as normal of kids… back then in the early 60’s. Around age 17 I asked my dentist for an old syringe and some Novocaine… he obliged, being as i was a smart kid. My mother found the syringe, and gave him hell… all I was planning on doing, based on biology classes, was to antithesis frogs and experiment on them. Seriously, my education taught me zero about life, respect for life or nature.
At age 18 I was facing two realities… 1) I was either numb to the reality of other people, or I hated them. And 2) Suicide; I had nothing to live for, I’d been smoking tobacco since I was 15, drinking from age 16, and women were something I saw from a distance, was attracted to, but I knew they’d never like me.
Get the drift???
So what happened to me? How did I not do 1 or 2? Those were my choices.
You know, what i hated the most were “druggies”, because I had been taught to hate “druggies”. And the druggies I hated the most used “marijuana”. My sister whom was the only person I really loved and could care about – well, I found out she was using “pot”. I picked up the phone to call the police… but hung it back down.
There are those in our government that probably believe I should have turned my sister in. That was the way it was when Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany in 1924.
By an odd twist of fate, I let it go and a year later a best friend offered myself and another best friend some Panama Red to try. I was initially in total panic mode, fear and angry with my friend. But I considered the obvious, as I had done once before, and I said YES.
Cannabis saved my life! It woke me up to the world, to live, respect for all living creatures, and an awareness of my environment. Over the years I’ve felt guilty for who I was prior to that event, and scared shitless of what might have become me.
My gov’t would like me to believe the former was preferable to using cannabis. My gov’t won’t conduct scientific research into the benefits or truth about cannabis. My gov’t calls cannabis too dangerous to ever talk about. Yet I read the news, have experiences over the years that make it clear to me most violent crimes, though not all, are perpetrated by straight people or those drunk on alcohol, not under the influence of cannabis.
My gov’t would say I’m delusional… my life experience, my college and university degrees, my accomplishment and success should tell otherwise. But my gov’t doesn’t care.
No problem. I understand now 40 years later that my gov’t is composed of many self-serving, ignorant people… and though that sure won’t gain me their favor by saying so, I don’t care; what i care about is a country where safety and people come first, not self-interests. Where science and truth come first, not money.
I’ve enjoy 40 years of harmony, peace and good relationships… I am thankful for much this country gave me the opportunity to achieve, but I am completely dumbstruck by how dumb my gov’t is when it comes to cannabis, medicinal and recreational plants, and excuses as to why harm reduction and science isn’t practical and a WAR ON DRUGS and TOTAL IGNORANCE is.
STOP THE HURT! LEGALIZE CANNABIS!
As a practicing physician, a psychiatrist since 1971 and doing Medical Cannabis evaluations for the last two years, I have proof without a doubt as to the medicinal value of the plant. I have literally hundreds of patients who would be glad to testify stating how medical cannabis has worked when other medication did not. Particularly narcotic pain relievers, anti-anxiety meds, and sleeping pills. Side effects of these meds are a special problem.
I would like to get the California Medical Society to make a formal statement to this effect. If any of you knows a physician who feels likewise please have them get in touch with me.
The DEA is a flat earth!!
bullshit ! the study should be with the people who use it. ask the people, not some asshole who has no idea on the subject. i’m sure if he was in pain like me and found out the benefits, he would change his mind.
As of Aug. 10th,2011, The Homeland Security Dept. & D.E.A. have confiscated an amount of over One Billion Dolers worth of marijuanna growing in just one National Forrest in Mendocino County California. WOW, how many Trillions of U.S. Dollers are Green Growing in America. Hold a SALE, save the U.S. from real bankruptcy. Oh, ok, first fire every obstructionist politican who owe their allegiance to Grover Norquist,or are financially benefitting from forcing a negative value of U.S. Treasuries via “SHORT” positions they pre-purchased .
just heard of a woman who remitted completely from a cancer after ingesting. let’s lobby for more research on this
AND THE FEDS ARE A BUNCH OF ASSHOLES WITH NO IMAGINATION!IMPEACH OBAMA, PIECE OF SHIT PRESIDENT!
No currently synthesised version? What a crock, I use it!!!!!!!! look up marinol. My doctor prescribes it for my appetite, ruined by liver cirrohsis, and she can’t belive the differences. my appetitte is back, hair stopped falling out, skin got soft and supposedly imposible, but my wife got pregnant! but it costs 720.00 a month.
Ignorant trolls, learn how to post comments.
And why are there no clinical facts to show that cannabis has medicinal, safe-use qualities???
Because under Schedule One the National Institute of Health that reports to the DEA can only research what’s negative about cannabis. There have been no active studies into the benefits and safety of cannabis on a federal level since at least 1971.
Yet somehow the NIH and the federal government found resources to secure a patent on THC. The patent list many therapeutic properties.
Further, cannabis is a plant, an herb, a natural substance. The FDA has no regulatory powers over cannabis, only drugs synthesized from it’s chemical composition. The only exception is tobacco, which is so highly adulterated that Congress passed a law to approve FDA oversight of tobacco. Cannabis is like ginseng or camomile… herbs that cannot be judged nor regulated by the FDA.
This ruling by the DEA is to be expected, although it only shows how ignorant the federal government is, and how little change Obama brought/bought to become President.
This is worst than the “Flat-Earth” theory… it pretty much proves the earth revolves around the federal government, not the sun, and further, ignorance has no bottom. I simply can’t believe I’m reading this shit… unbelievable!!!
I agree with what Bobkat said. I thought our Government was more progressive that that. Talk about a narrow minded view. They obviously haven’t studied the medicinal herb cannabis sativa, or they wouldn’t come out with such rubbish and expect people to believe it. All we want is legalization for adult’s personal use, medicinal or otherwise- just like any other medicinal herb. Tobacco and alcohol are a million times worse and are not medicinal (just the opposite!) and they are legal. This is becoming a movement and it’s something the people want.