Last month we shared with you a letter from Tennessee Congressman Steven Cohen — co-sponsor of HR 2306: The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011 — to Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, which called upon the Obama administration to support changing cannabis’ status as a schedule I prohibited drug and to respect the laws of states that have legalized it for its medical utility.
“We should not deny the thousands of Americans who rely on the benefits that marijuana provides,” Cohen wrote. “There is no evidence that marijuana has the same addictive qualities or damaging consequences as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine and should not be treated as such.”
On Monday, October 3, Drug Czar Kerlikowske responded to Rep. Cohen. In his reply, summarized here, Kerlikowske alleged that the Congressman’s concerns regarding the federal scheduling of cannabis are unwarranted because, “We ardently support research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine.”
Kerlikowske added, “In fact, the federal government is the largest source of funding for research into the potential therapeutic benefits of marijuana, and every valid request for the use of marijuana for research has been approved by the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
Really? So how does the Drug Czar explain this headline — from Saturday’s edition of The Washington Post?
Marijuana study of traumatized veterans stuck in regulatory limbo
Getting pot on the street is easy. Just ask the 17 million Americans who smoked the federally illegal drug in 2010.
Obtaining weed from the government? That’s a lot harder.
In April, the Food and Drug Administration approved a first-of-its kind study to test whether marijuana can ease the nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and flashbacks common in combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
But now another branch of the federal government has stymied the study. The Health and Human Services Department is refusing to sell government-grown marijuana to the nonprofit group proposing the research, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.
That’s right, the Drug Czar is claiming that the federal government ‘ardently supports’ medical marijuana research just days after the US government formally denied a request for an FDA-approved clinical trial to assess cannabis’ therapeutic safety and efficacy.
Wait, it gets worse. The ugly truth is that the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the agency that oversees 85 percent of the world’s research on controlled substances, is on record stating that its institutional policy is to reject any and all medical marijuana research. “As the National Institute on Drug Abuse, our focus is primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use,” a NIDA spokesperson told The New York Times in 2010. “We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”
For once a government agency was telling the truth regarding cannabis. NIDA categorically does not support such research — despite the Obama administration in 2010 publicly issuing its “Scientific Integrity” memorandum stating, “Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration.”
That is why an online search of ongoing FDA-approved clinical trials using the keyword “cannabinoids” yields only six studies (two of which have already been completed) worldwide involving subjects’ use of actual cannabis despite hundreds of favorable preclinical and observational studies clearly demonstrating its benefit.
Just how blatant is Kerlikowske’s latest lie? Consider this. According to the White House’s 2011 National Drug Control Strategy, released in July, only fourteen researchers in the United States are legally permitted to conduct research assessing the effect of inhaled cannabis in human subjects. That’s right, only fourteen! And even among this absurdly limited group of investigators, most are involved in research to assess the drug’s “abuse potential, physical/psychological effects, [and] adverse effects.” So says the White House.
Ardent support for medical marijuana research? Please Gil, don’t make us laugh.
Seriously, Gil doesn’t make me laugh. His outrageous lies infuriate me! Every time he opens his mouth, representing the worst part of our Govt (the Feds), my opinion of our Govt and the stupidity they support drops even lower…
The Drug Czar wears no clothes!
Election day is 13 months away. Every marijuana user should vote for the same person, one that is not running on the Democratic or Republican ticket.
Hey NORML, who do you recommend for President in 2012?
Let me be clear; the White House is interested in funding all NEGATIVE MARIJUANA research! Give him credit, this was only a half LIE!
The marijuana is safest cannabis and also it a human cunsume, The federal government should allow us use cannabis for medicine for our survior sick people not dying that man made medicine is not helping sick people.
Medical marijuana is the only medicine all we want.
You know what government? It not going hurt people, you should know that.
Get over with it and be done with it.
So legalize it help us and listen to us.
The American government WANTS us all to die as slowly as possible from cancer…only after we have spent every dime we’ve saved for our grandchildren to pay for needless/poisonous treatments and deadly drugs made by companies paying BIG$$$ to keep cannabis illegal. Every drug czar will be a liar or face losing their job and possible prosecution.
Won’t someone please take a look at the rising cancer rates in this country against a timeline of when cannabis was outlawed. SMOKING IT = bad for your lungs…EATING IT = cure…and therein lies the scandal..who can afford to eat pot at 400$ an ounce.
Maybe he just honestly didn’t know. Maybe they just don’t tell the DRUG CZAR these things.
I am endocannabinoid deficient. I need cannabinoids for my chronic pain and skin cancer. But I refuse to get hooked on big pharmas cure. I must move to a more compassionate state! Missouri is for hillbillies.
You’ve misunderstood the drug czar’s words. The key word was “components” and what he probably meant is they support pharmaceutical industry research into specific chemicals. In his view there’s no contradiction between his statement and “We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”
It’s a great tactic. Pretend to be progressive while actually just aiding the industry.
Tell a big enough lie and the people believe it. The governmet stymies any and all efforts to find uses for medical marijuana. NIDA said it all…they only look for negatives.
clearly, the whole cannabis plant itself, is useful.
certain components are for medicine.
certain components are for food.
certain components are for recreation.
certain components are for sacrament.
which quality is most prominent depends on the particular strain (sativa/indica/ruderalis) and its specific CBD:THC ratio.
i can imagine going into a whole foods market or local farmer’s market to find the cannabis section, offering whole plant leaf, root, stem, flower bud, etc. in categories of low thc/high cbd, equal thc/cbd, and high thc/low cbd ratio.
I hope the Government isn’t holding out and taking the opportunity to “take the credit” for cannabinoid-based medical inovations. That would be a huge slap in the face to the oppressed, minority groups working so hard.
The only things the FEDS are worried about is the quagmire of injustices against the citizens of our country over MARIJUANA PROHIBITION. Now the FEDS are acting like GODS of SCIENCE and the corrupt system of the drug war going on within our borders, THE UNICORNIZATION OF AMERIKA. If the FEDS act so ignorant on the medical use of marijuana, where in the hell do they get the research for drug testing of marijuana and is approved by FDA? Is the testing as rigorous as BIG PHARMA DRUGS which kill and maim people, or is it just a double standard for FEDERALISM. Now it’s spare the rod and spoil the adult. We now live under a system of HOMELAND SECURITY-PATRIOT ACT and MARIJUANA PROHIBITION and BIG BROTHER with the ORWELLIAN MENTALITY. Yhe FEDS have the rod and all we we have is a twig to defend ourselves like rats in a cage.
Kerlikowske, you have got to be fuckin’ kidding me!
This is a blatant example of Doublethink,Newspeak and both of them together Doublespeak!
You should just fuckin’ resign and cite the reason why as being forced to lie and make a total ass of yourself to the world. Really! You didn’t think the intelligentsia was not going to call you on it, did you? Really?!
You fuckin’ suck. Get out!
I have also read that the IRS is going after any and all providers of medical cannabis for back taxes. If your business includes a controlled substance i.e. cannabis you are not allowed any standard business deduction from your gross income. They are out to put all of them out of business. Sounds a lot like Hoover and Capone. Shame on Obama and his thugs for preying on the sick in this country. Pure evil!!!
OMG!
A quick Question:
How can you tell when Drug Tzar Gil Kerlikowske is lying?
The correct Answer(s):
(1) When his lips move; AND
(2) When a policy paper is released over his name.
“Hell of a job, brownie … err, I mean Gil. You get paid (very well) to lie to the American People, ostensibly to keep ‘us’ safe from ourselves but really to protect the profits of Monopoly Capitalist Kleptocrats.”
Unfortunately for the Powers That Be, the Federal government has pretty much lost the respect of most citizens when it comes to ‘transparency in government’ and ‘government truthfulness’. That assessment is the culmination of nearly 80 years of Prohibition of Cannabis and the widespread persecution of minorities that this policy has engendered. The lies, the obfuscations, the greed, and the violence associated with the government’s enforcement of their perpetual ‘War of (Some) Drugs’ against Cannabis is only the most blatant and egregious example of the government’s misogyny against its own citizens.
What this country needs are Citizen Truth Councils all across this land with subpoena powers, along with such tools as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’, if only to begin the task of reforming our government. And at what point in time did bribery of public officials become the norm, guised as campaign contributions, rather than both illegal and immoral?
Please sign my petition to eliminate the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the “Drug Czar”. The ONDCP is the head of the snake and needs to be eliminated.
You can view and sign the petition here:
http://wh.gov/4kR
Here’s some more information about this petition:
Eliminate the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The legislation that congress used to create the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), also known as the Drug Czar’s office, requires that the ONDCP reject any attempts to reform laws for any substances on the List of Controlled Substances.
Because of this restriction, the ONDCP has shown time and again that it is willing to lie and distort facts in order to fulfill that mandate. This behavior by the ONDCP is un-American and immoral, and should not be allowed in a free and democratic society.
This petition requests that the ONDCP be eliminated.
This is just the kind of thing that needs to be exposed to the public. 2012 legalization groups could gain a lot of credibility for ending prohibition by showing how Drug Czar Gil had to lie to keep medical marijuana illegal, using this example. This blatant, in your face abuse could be woven into a home-run TV commercial for marijuana legalization. I would gladly donate for a TV spot exposing this outright abuse.
OWNED
Great quotes from the above article:
“For once a government agency was telling the truth regarding cannabis.”
“Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration.”
Grow industrial or medical cannabis instead of marijuana. What is the difference? Sign this petition to make a difference.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/re-legalize-cannabis-amending-section-802-item-16-definition-marijuana-controlled-substances-act/W0p6ZfFP?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Why does are Govt lie to us?
our -sorry
The anti-marijuana statement in the The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 is a very bad joke that is causing the federal government to become totally insane with their psychopathic lies. It is the Devil’s scripture.
Save the United States and end prohibition!
Vote!
Suffice it to say, Marc Emery with his powerful entrepreneurial and philanthropic energies showed how prodigious cannabis consumption can correspond with enormous work accomplishment. He ran afoul of the DEA when his passions led him to work expose cannabis prohibitionist lies. When the ultimate prohibitionists, the DEA, finally arrested Marc Emery for selling seeds, Bush appointee Michele Leonhart gloatingly referenced his efforts at marijuana legalization. How tragic that Obama re-appointee (gag) Michele Leonhart may be responsible for Emery’s descent into the torture of sensory deprivation. He is one of the World’s’s best people; she is one of the worst.
The land of the free, home of the brave now instead runs a massive prison gulag, boosting the careers and bloated pensions of drug war bureaucrats
while imprisoning more of its own people (by far) than any other country and we are told “ it’s only other Countries that do this to its own people “.
As if being the world’s most prolific incarceration nation were not bad enough, the American prison system routinely makes use of solitary confinement, a condition in which tens of thousands of people are languishing at this very moment across the USA. Neither the American people nor the current neo-con Supreme Court care much about the condition of prisoners. Both would care more if they could see the monetary costs and building dangers of such a system but they fail to see . One day, most of these people will walk out of prison and rejoin society.
Will they have been taught a
lesson ? Yes, they’ve learned of the injustices handed down to them in the World’s most hypocritical Country on Earth .
Allen, San Francisco, Ca.
What keeps up the charade. Is it money , puritanical zeal, institutional zeitgiest, american exceptionalism?
This needs to be front page news: The New Times – USA Today. Is there anybody out there that can do this kind of thing?
May4.org
Vote Ron Paul!!!
Cannabis smokers..our government treats us like a throw away condom…so weary of the lies.
I ardently support shutting down the DEA, and that’s no lie!
It will be a cold day in hell be for our Gov tell the truth. Rise up. If u are a man stop crying take it to the street. U women where are the hell are yall. Why are yall not out in the street yelling at the top of your lungs. I am very pro cannabis. And i dont want to see my grand children be able to go to some one house after school and buy there cannabis just like we did.When u are 55 like i am and been using this drug since i was 14 years old U do find out the good and the bad this drug can cause. Only thru legalization will we be able to reduce the abuse of this drug. Only when we take to the street in huge huge protest will there be a quick change. U have to pre pay your bills so u can go and take part in a huge march in every stat. This march has to last over a month. Is it hard yes it will be. I do believe its time for (NORML) to put it all to gather.
How can you tell when Gil is lying, his mouth is moving.
@29 – Your words ring TRUE!!! Giving a non-violent marijuana offender a prison sentence, or even a huge fine, teaches them a lesson alright! As you said, it teaches them just how screwed up our justice system is! It is truly sad that most Americans seem to be blissfully ignorant about just how screwed up it is until it touches them directly…
federal govt= lying fud-de-duddys.DEA=thugs with guns. We are worried about morality police in islamic countrys? We have enough of those assholes in the DEA and pig forces in the good ol USA.
What a FUCKING liar piece of shit excuse for a human being.
Nobama in 2012!
click on the ‘American Sheep’ for the link to the U.S. Patent search and then type in Patent Number 6630507.
or just click here:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507
Patented proof of cannabis’ medical utility filed and awarded by non other than our very own government!
Gov’t lie #9,013,560,420,666:
Tell the people we’re doing what they want and word it so they believe it.
Sorry, Mr. Czar. I believe NOTHING you say.
I just signed the petition #15 talks about. Their mission has to be ended regarding cannabis. Big Government probably will never eliminate the office completely unless there is a People’s Revolution.
The Internal Revenue Service has ordered Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, the largest medical cannabis dispensary on the West Coast, to pay $2 million in taxes after ruling that the collective cannot deduct standard business expenses, such as payroll and rent .
The decision has alarmed the operators and added frustration over the tightening of federal policies governing medicinal cannabis.
“They’re attempting to tax us out of business,” Harborside owner Steve DeAngelo said Tuesday by telephone.
Ironically on the same day he received the IRS letter, DeAngelo was photographed handing the city treasury a check for $360,000. The payment was the third installment of $1 million in city-owed taxes generated by the dispensary in 2010. Oakland’s four dispensaries pay a 5 percent tax to Oakland on top of regular sales taxes that contributed about $2 million to California’s budget.
The dispensary paid the IRS a total of $500,000 in those years, and the IRS did not dispute Harborside’s record keeping. The agency did deny $2 million in deductions the dispensary took during both years for, among other? things, security, lab testing, licensing fees and employee health insurance. Harborside must also pay a penalty of
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nearly $400,000, DeAngelo said.
The agency based the decision on the fact that Harborside provides medical cannabis, a substance that while permitted in California is still illegal under federal laws.
Harborside might not be around to pay next year’s taxes if the federal government continues to tighten the noose around the medicinal cannabis industry, he said
Feds to shut down California dispensaries in 45 days.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44806723/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/calif-pot-dispensaries-told-feds-shut-down/>1=43001
The reason never made any sense, so really I’d like to know how this fraud was perpetrated at the highest levels of government for so long, and it continues.
Is it because cannabis makes you peaceful and not want to join the military?
Is it because it is medicine free for all people?
Is it because it is food, fiber, and freedom from debt slavery?
It must be a combination of all three, because the plant itself is not threatening. The reason is because of what the plant threatens, then, and these are the only reasons.
It is a war on all humanity.
Yeah, ok Gil, all those nasty chemicals that your buddies at Big Pharma dream up are much better for us.Pull your head out of your ass! Poopy Head!
(FINALLY MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT IS OVER!! NOW CAN WE GET BACK TO LEGALIZATION??????)
Federal prosecutors are cracking down on some pot dispensaries in California, warning the stores that they must shut down in 45 days or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property even if they are operating legally under the state’s 15-year-old medical marijuana law.
In an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. government and the nation’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry, at least 16 pot shops or their landlords received letters this week stating they are violating federal drug laws, even though medical marijuana is legal in California. The state’s four U.S. attorneys were scheduled Friday to announce a broader coordinated crackdown.
Their offices refused Thursday to confirm the closure orders. The Associated Press obtained copies of the letters that a prosecutor sent to at least 12 San Diego dispensaries. They state that federal law “takes precedence over state law and applies regardless of the particular uses for which a dispensary is selling and distributing marijuana.”
Suppose we could get NIDA to focus primarily on the negative consequences of alcohol use, or would they say “We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of alcohol.” Perhaps studies on tobacco?
The drug czar is probably getting paid off by the drug companies or maybe they gave him some shares in the stocks. Once they start shutting down medical marijuana dispensaries these drug company stocks will probably start going up more.
If the Federal Government can get states to start closing down medical marijuana dispensaries people will be forced to buy on the black market and get arrested for possession or they can go into a drug store and buy prescription pills provided by drug companies and doctors.
As long as marijuana stays illegal or medical marijuana stays illegal under Federal law, if it can continue getting Gil to talk about it without supporting it, just continuing to lie his ass off, he will always have a nice career.
The following are emails to and from the ONDCP:
Dear Donald,
Thank you for contacting the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Your comments have been shared with the Director’s office.What constitutes safe and effective medicine should continue to be based upon reviews of the appropriate science by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Medical evidence does not support the efficacy of smoked marijuana for medical purposes. ONDCP will continue to work closely with other stakeholders to review law, science, and medicine to refine the Administration’s marijuana enforcement policy.
The following is some specific information and resources concerning medical marijuana:
On April 20th, 2006, the FDA issued an advisory concluding that no sound scientific studies have supported medical use of smoked marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data support the safety or efficacy of smoked marijuana for general medical use.
There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana. For example, a prescription drug, Marinol, is currently available to anyone with a doctor’s prescription. Marinol contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and has been approved for some of the same uses as medicinal marijuana.
To learn more about “medical marijuana,” please visit the following Web sites:
Medical Marijuana Information Packet
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/issues-content/medical_marijuana_information_packet.pdf
Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2006/ucm108643.htm
Medical Marijuana – Marinol
http://www.justice.gov/dea/ongoing/marinol.html
Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376
Marijuana Studies/Articles from the National Institute on Drug Abuse
http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages/marijuana.html
Marijuana Research Report
http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/default.html
The DEA Position on Marijuana
http://www.justice.gov/dea/marijuana_position.pdf
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Yvonne
Content Specialist
ONDCP Clearinghouse
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp
******************************************************
Disclaimer: The enclosed response may include referrals to non-Federal Government resources.
The resources, and the information contained therein, are only as reliable and complete as their originating source. Responsibility for the quality/accuracy of the information rests with the original source.
On September 14, 2011, you wrote:
Dear Mr. Kerlikowske,
I am writing to you in the hopes of promoting a greater understanding of medical cannabis and the potential for its use among cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy.
My wife has stage IV, metastatic, Her2neu positive breast cancer. She has had the disease for going on nineteen (19) years now and has endured a myriad of treatments including high-dose chemotherapy and several hormone therapies. (Tamoxifen, Zolodex, Arimidex, etc.) She has been able to gain valuable time from most of these treatments. After the high-dose regimen she was introduced to Herceptin which has helped her a great deal. However, the disease progressed from the lymph system into the bones of her hips, pelvis, femur and back and she began a clinical trial provided by Bristol-Myer Squibb which had limited results.
Two years ago she became a participant in a new phase I clinical trial involving Herceptin with T-DM1 and GDC-0941. She had an immediate response to the treatment and after 37 cycles of the therapy has seen no progression of the disease.
Our problem is this; as time goes on the spontaneous emesis (vomiting) and nausea become more of a concern. She is currently taking Reglan for these side effects but has lost some thirty (30) pounds since the beginning of the trial. Although she has had some limited response to the Reglan, it is not sufficient to prevent her from spontaneously vomiting and being constantly nauseous. The problem is exacerbated when she has just taken the GDC-0941 and must keep from throwing up the life saving medicine. Health care professionals recognize the efficacy of cannabis for my wife’s condition and recommend it for her.
We are aware of some of the problems associated with the medical use of cannabis but these can be alleviated if the product is given the supervision and care that is given to tobacco. Mold is a problem, and the varying level of cannabinoids and THC is not addressed by the existing black market. She needs a regulated and well cared for substance for her therapy.
Most chemotherapy is delivered in a short period of time but my wife has endured it for over two years in this most recent trial. It would be a shame for her to lose her struggle for life due to the side effects of a life saving treatment because she was unable to access a valuable tool that would keep her from losing too much weight.
Please consider our dilemma as you look into the future for cancer patients.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Donald Wright
I know what I’m thinking, saying, and doing “even if government doesn’t.” If they can’t remember what I’ve just said [then] they can just pick it up from right here and now – and – they can stay awake this time.
Compassionate Use patients – are permitted by law to cultivate and consume “the whole plant material.” They are allowed to carry it on their persons and transport it at all times. They are allowed by law to form a “Medical Collective” that cultivates for the collectives exclusive benefit. The harvest belongs to the collective and is made exclusively available to its constituents [members] patients to consume.
Religiously it’s a Sacrament. Genesists – for example – believe in Genesis Chapter I Verses 1 through Genesis Chapter III Verse 24 with a “Distinctive Faith” in Chapter I Verses 29, 30, 31 – where Genesists “distinctively” – receive – “The green herb for food and Sacrament.” A religious collective who cultivates Sacrament on “Sacred and Blessed Ground” – also cultivates for medicinal use – “God’s Own Medicine.” through Genesis Inner Faith Constituency – provided by the Compassionate Use Doctrine of the Faith and its obligation to relieve pain and suffering of it’s brethren through its medicinal use.
MY RESPONSE TO THE ONDCP:
160 Sodom Road
Moultonborough, NH 03254
October 7, 2011
Yvonne (?)
Content Specialist
ONDCP Clearing House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp
Dear Yvonne (?),
Thank you for your timely response.
I respectfully submit the following response to your email to me for continued discussion:
Along with the information you asked me to read, I have read and own copies of the IOM’s report “Marijuana and Medicine”, “Marijuana as Medicine?” by Alison Mack and Janet Joy, “Understanding Marijuana” by Mitch Earlywine, “Complementary & Alternative Cancer Therapies” by the American Cancer Society and have read the National Cancer Institute’s own website: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Support/marijuana I highly recommend that you read them yourself as well as “Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine” by Dr. Lester Grinspoon. You may find some enlightenment as a result. Or, better yet, spend a few days in the treatment room of a nearby Cancer center.
My letter to you was sincerely motivated, as my wife is a seriously ill cancer patient who has not responded appropriately to any of the existing anti-emetic drugs offered to her. Marinol (Dronabinol) takes too long for it to be effective and the side effects are disturbing (headache, dizziness, etc.). Her situation has progressed to the point where it may become a medical necessity for her to use cannabis in order for her to keep from being removed from the clinical trial that is miraculously keeping her alive.
The fact that cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug prevents it from being properly assessed for medicinal purposes though clinical trials. Pharmaceutical companies won’t investigate cannabis because the process is too difficult and unprofitable for them to obtain the needed research for F.D.A. approval of a Schedule 1 drug. Your office and the D.E.A. have a vested interest in keeping cannabis off the market and the current system will prevent cannabis from ever being obtainable to those who could benefit from its availability. Although your department claims that you “ardently support research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine” I personally cannot find any supporting evidence of such a claim.
How do you compare cannabis to the likes of heroin and methamphetamine? Both heroin and “Meth” are highly addictive and devastating drugs that have no legitimate use. A cancer patient can have an astonishing array of opiates and narcotics that are both highly addictive and have the potential for easy overdose and if they worked for our situation, we would be able to use them. But they don’t. Does cannabis really compare to Oxycontin, Morphine or even Codeine in its toxicity? Narcotics are available as a legitimate option and their cost is increasing with every accidental overdose death, unlike cannabis by which no primary cause of death can be found.
Ours is a Republic and not a Democracy. That means that the “inalienable” rights of the individual are protected against the will of the majority. This is a significant aspect of our unique form of government that the likes of Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and Thomas Paine as well as many others knew was going to be a key point in making our country a success. Preventing an individual from trying to save their own life in order to keep the “status quo” is not a part of this premise.
Have Irvin Rosenfeld, Robert Randall or any of the other patients involved in the Compassionate, Investigational New Drug program become heroin or meth-amphetamine addicts as a result of their being in that program? The idea of a “gateway drug” is misleading at best. Let’s look at tobacco and alcohol: Tobacco killed some 430,000 people last year: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/ and alcohol killed some 79,000 people annually from 2001-2005 http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/ . These could easily fall into the category of gateway drugs but yet they are still legal. We should be focusing on new and innovative ways of teaching our children the realities of how to deal with drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, that are available to them illicitly and not in enforcing archaic laws that have no legitimate basis for disapproving cannabis as a potential medicine.
Was Administrative Law Judge Francis Young wrong when he said, “…Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.”? http://www.ccguide.org/young88.php Why did the honorable Judge make this statement if cannabis is so dreadfully dangerous that a cancer patient can’t have access to it? He represented the D.E.A. at the time he made the statement in 1988. Is former Secretary of State George P. Schultz “off the farm” when he asks for reform? http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/ Your own people are turning against the outdated policies sustained by your department and that of the D.E.A. http://www.leap.cc/ Further, are health care professions wrong when they suggest that cannabis is a viable option for mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy? These are people that are in the trenches and have experience that obviously goes well beyond that of your department.
Israel recently approved medical cannabis for seriously ill patients, http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-government-approves-guidelines-for-medical-marijuana-1.377416 and the rest of the world is begging for the United States to reevaluate our current drug policies: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/
We are not ignorant children who blindly follow the directives of Government agencies who do not attempt to discover the facts but continue to propagate deceptions and half-truths in order to sustain the revenue needed to continue a lose/lose situation and to keep their professional lives from being disrupted. The truth in this matter can be easily discovered by simply trying cannabis and readily discovering its true efficacy for relieving the side effects of chemotherapy. But we can’t do that, can we? In this circumstance, it is illegal to try and save your own life.
Ultimately, how does preventing a cancer patient from gaining access to a plant, that may very well prolong their life, or at the least provide a quality of life for them that makes their treatment tolerable, serve the public’s interest and uphold the Constitution? “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are at the core of our existence as the Declaration of Independence asserts. Doesn’t that translate to trying to save one’s own life is a right?
I apologize for sounding indignant, but I am full up with “canned responses”, “lip service” and what I see as a blatant disregard for the health and welfare of citizens whose only fault is having contracted a disease that can kill them.
I look forward to your response…
Sincerely,
Donald Wright
Cc: Senator Kelly Ayotte (NH), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Representative Guinta (1st District-NH), Governor John Lynch (NH), NORML, Americans for Safe Access, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Union Leader, the Concord Monitor
Ardent! Nice word Gil! We know he can handle 2 syllables now. If he “legalize” isn’t in his vocabulary, perhaps he could handle “permit” or “allow”. We can work from there…
I think the next petition should say.
Cannabis laws are gross abuse of power and crimes against humanity. Stop this treason against the republic.
The US Government WANTS a Black Market! The US Government has turned into an “ADDICT!” They evidently never heard the saying “We are the people our parents warned us against.”
Funny that you (NORML) reported this. But even now, several days later, you have refused to cover this story:
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
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Feds cracking down on California medical marijuana dispensaries
October 6, 2011 | 6:28 pm
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Photo: Merchandise at The Farmacy, a medical marijuana dispensary in West Hollywood. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times Federal prosecutors in California are threatening to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, sending letters to warn landlords to stop sales of the drug within 45 days or face the possibility that their property will be seized and they will be sent to prison.
The stepped-up enforcement appears to be a major escalation in the Obama administration’s bid to rein in the explosive spread of medical marijuana outlets that was accelerated by the announcement that federal prosecutors would not target people using medical marijuana in states that allow it.
“It’s basically the federal bureaucracy doing what it has done for the last 15 years and just continuing to put its head in the sand and saying no on this,” said Dale Gieringer, the director of California NORML.
The four U.S. attorneys have scheduled a news conference for Friday morning in Sacramento to outline their plans to target marijuana cultivation and sales in California. Earlier this year, the prosecutors circulated an internal memo that indicated they would focus enforcement efforts on dispensaries and growers that dealt with more than 200 kilograms or a 1,000 plants a year.
Landlords for some dispensaries have already received letters, including the owner of the building that houses the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, Calif., the oldest dispensary in the state. That letter notes that the dispensary is within a prohibited distance of a park, raising the possibility that prosecutors are taking aim at stores that fall within 1,000 feet of schools and parks. But letters received by dispensaries in San Diego make no mention of such distance prohibitions.
“There’s always been a different policy depending on where you are,” said Gieringer. “They’re going to try to clean up San Diego and just cause some random damage up here.”
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama said the federal government should not raid medical marijuana users and caregivers. Three months after Obama was inaugurated, his attorney general announced that it would be the administration’s official policy. Although California was the first state to decriminalize marijuana for medical use in 1996, it remains a federal crime to possess or sell it.
Recently, the administration and some of its federal prosecutors have drawn strict limits on what they would tolerate. When Oakland and Berkeley began to make plans to allow industrial-scale cultivation, the U.S. attorney for the Bay Area made it that clear she would not allow it, leading those cities to shelve ambitious plans motivated by the desire for tighter regulatory control and increased tax revenues.
The latest letters have baffled the state’s medical marijuana activists, who believe the president has broken his word. “Obama says, ‘Yes.’ The conservatives say, ‘No.’ So they get together and huddle and they settle on no,” said William G. Panzer, an Oakland lawyer who helped draft the state’s medical marijuana initiative. “The Obama administration has been incredibly disappointing on this issue.”
There ya go! If the recent changes in Colorado’s MMJ program weren’t enough to clue you in that Obama hates you just as much as bu$h did, let this story sink in! MMJ is on it’s way out NORML! You’ve held on to this card for too long, and now big pharma has managed to make medications that can take it all away from you!!! All they have to do now, is go to the fed and say, “See we can do it as good as medical marijuana without smoking it”, and poof, the MMJ scheme you’ve been wedging the back-door of legality open with will evaporate quicker than your last bong-hit’s exhale!!!
-Oz
No, the reason all this is taking place is because the feds don’t like competition. Obama lied just to get in office.
This is why people are occuping wall st, occupy everything. We don’t have to put up with that crap anymore. We know what they are hiding now. Wake up and watch the Obama Deception on you tube.
The best jobs back in the day for farmers were hemp farming. Taking that and knowing that we have great technology where now we don’t have to use home depot or lowes (Big Business) The feds would not allow that either because it would create jobs and compete with the people that give them money to be against it. The best houses are made out of Hempcrete, completely like the counters, insullaton, walls. Google it. People in Cape Cod South Africa have hemp houses. There is 1 hemp house in America.
@65 – Ozlanthos
I think you are absolutely right. Although to any educated person it is clear that cannabis has medical benefits and properties, it is doomed to failure with the current crop of leaders this country is infected with.
We all need to stop pushing for medical marijuana and just make it legal for all adults – period. Once that is done, then people can use it for medical or recreational. Adults should be able to make up their own minds on the subject and screw what our infected leaders (bullies in my opinion) have to say about it.
By the way, I don’t think it is a coincidence that they are trying to get tough on anyone who uses cannabis and owns a gun. Bullies prefer to pick on the weak…
Research by or through NIDA only! LOL
Hey flat earth do you have a 215, or its equiv ? Someone voted for 215’s therefore I have one.That is why I vote. What do you suggest? The fact that only a small segment of the population votes is one of the biggest problems with it.We could be talking about adult legalization implementation, instead of trying to pass it. As hard as it maybe to believe voting , and pubic opinion matter sometimes.
43 more signatures needed to get END MARIJUANA PROHIBITION petition public on White House website, available now only at this case sensitive White House link:
http://wh.gov/gP1
please help & click & sign!
the MORE MARIJUANA PETITIONS, THE BETTER!
This entire administration has become nothing but a big ole lie. Time to run these crooks off and get prepared for the new crooks. It’s a sad thing when the leaders of a country become the enemy of the people.
The only person in the government that seems to have any truth whatsoever is laughed at. WTF!
Legalize it completely just like tomatoes. Otherwise these morons will find a way to keep their war on Americans going.
How does any pigheaded human think they have the right or authority to make a plant that the creator made a crime?
On Friday September 30th, Harborside Health Center Executive Director Steve DeAngelo presented the City of Oakland with a check for $360,483.33 -new tax revenue from the 5% cannabis tax that Oakland’s voters approved last November.
How many jobs does this money create ?
…..and, Obama says he’s trying to create jobs .Ha, he’s taking them away .
Isnt we the people of the united states suppose to run our country i didnt vote to illegalize marijuana if anything we shuld have it for medical use we need a honest vote for the people in this issue then lets see what happenso.0
Yeah, the “what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine” part of his statement worries me that big pharma is looking for a way to refine certain components and screw with it enough to patent it and charge a lot of money. When they figure out how to make billions from it then those “components” in some form will become available.
Seriously, this is a useful websites.