The DEA Says Marijuana As Dangerous As Heroin
www.greenrushdaily.com/2016/08/15/dea-says-marijuana-dangerous-heroin
This really demonstrates what a bunch of idiots within the DEA is … The UK still uses pharmaceutical grade Heroin for pain management… because it is diacetylmorphine and is metabolized into Morphine in the body and on a mg to mg basis it is 2-3 more potent than Morphine. Morphine is a C-II scheduled controlled medication. So according to the DEA’s own scheduling process… Heroin should be a C-II – because it is metabolized into Morphine in the body.. so if MJ is as dangerous as Heroin… then logic would suggest that MJ should be a C-II. Of course, since the DEA has kept MJ as a C-I .. that means that little/no clinical/medical research has been done on the estimated 400 different components in MJ. I guess that it is a good thing that the DEA has not had oversight of the entire healthcare industry because we would still be doing “blood letting” and using leaches as cures.
Refusing to Back Down
Advocates of cannabis legalization have been working for years to change how the federal government classifies marijuana. Currently, the government considers marijuana to be a “Schedule I” narcotic substance. In layman’s terms, this means that it considers cannabis to be without any medical value and with a high potential for abuse.
That position, according to a policy brief issued today by the Drug Enforcement Administration, is unlikely to change in the near future.
The agency has refused to reclassify cannabis, and will keep it classified as a “Schedule 1” drug. However, the DEA will allow an increase in the supply of marijuana available for medical research.
Out of Both Sides of Their Mouth
It seems contradictory to give the green light to researching medical cannabis on one hand, while refusing to grant marijuana any medical value on the other. Cannabis current classification flies in the face of current research which suggests immense medical and therapeutic potential for cannabis.
Of course, it’s well known that marijuana is significantly less addictive and dangerous than alcohol and many prescription drugs. But the DEA is so far refusing to back down.
Hordes of prominent state and national organizations have recognized through reports, studies, and publications the medical benefits of cannabis, including National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the American Public Health Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association, to name just a few.
Safer Than Alcohol
As far back as 1999, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine issued a report commissioned by none less than the White House which found that in terms of addiction and abuse, marijuana was far less of a health risk.
The report acknowledged that some cannabis users do in fact develop dependencies, they are far less severe and less likely to do so than people who use nicotine and alcohol.
Keeping up the Fight
The DEA’s latest ruling isn’t stopping cannabis advocates from speaking out against the agency’s refusal to reclassify cannabis.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Marijuana Policy Project spokesperson and Director of Communications Mason Tvert issued a statement today which blasted the DEA’s stance on cannabis. “The DEA’s refusal to remove marijuana from Schedule I is, quite frankly, mind-boggling. It is intellectually dishonest and completely indefensible.”
The Silver Lining
One of the positives to come out of the DEA’s announcement, however, has to do with the freeing up of a larger supply of medical-grade cannabis for research purposes.
Until now, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has had a virtual monopoly over the cultivation of cannabis for research uses. For many years, this has put up barriers to other groups interested in exploring the medical benefits of marijuana. And since the DEA and NIDA work closely together, their control of the research has potentially led to diluted findings that don’t contradict the exaggerated claims made by the DEA about marijuana’s harmfulness.
“Removing barriers to research is a step forward,” admitted Tvert, “but the decision does not go nearly far enough.”
Filed under: General Problems
I think our founding father Samuel Adams said it best,,”Our FREEDOM as Adult humanbeings to decide what we can and cannot put into our own bodies,to live our lives as we see fit and to KNOW that FREEDOM will never be taken from us,” Well THAT FREEDOM has been taken from all of us,,a long time ago,,As Steve pointed out in a post a while back,,something like 300 and something amendments/new laws to our constitution,,thats literally obliterating thee entire meaning of the Constitution,,Furthermore jmo I think our Declaration Of Independence needs to become LEGAL LAW,,, not some made up bullshit called natural law..Men died for the creation of that founding document as the LAW of this America,,and the fact they no longer conscider the Declaration of Independece legal law is disgraceful,,but sums up what rites have been taken away from us.JMO,,MARY
The prohibition of substances, the so-called War on Drugs, the DEA, the idea that the state can presume to dictate at gun point and be the ultimate arbiter of what one can and cannot ingest into their own body under pain of state sanction up to and including death all has it’s genesis in a presumption of State ownership over the individual and right to self determination. It’s about the marginalization and disenfranchisement of one group or another by the State. Power and money are the driving factors behind the politicization of this issue, a medical issue
I think Vladimir Lenin, a man who was no stranger to the use of brute political power to accomplish his agenda, said it best when referring to the weight of the State in the “Who does what to whom” principle that really sums all of this up. It’s really about the State presuming to own all of us. Each time our individual right to self-determination is usurped, it’s almost always rationalized by the prevaricative justification of it being a matter of national security, public safety/order, saving the planet or it’s for/about the children. The only way out is for us to collectively organize and revoke our consent to be ruled over, especially in this matter, by invoking the first word that most of us ever learned. That word is, “NO”.
What gets me is why in the hell is our government allowing a bureaucratic agency that has NO medical and/or pharmaceutical background whatsoever to make these decisions?! It’s possible that a chronic user of marijuana could develop a mild physical dependence to it, but coffee, energy drinks, and soft drinks that contain caffeine can do the same. Not to mention, the same can be said about some OTC medications and many prescription medications.
A little OT but Zyrtec (aka cetirizine – OTC allergy med) can cause a horrific physical dependence. My son found this out the hard way. He’s taken Zyrtec every day for at least 10 years (nasal allergies – he has never had skin allergies). He ran out and thought it’d be fine until the next time he was in WalMart. On the 3rd day of no Zyrtec, he began itching – itching like crazy – said he felt as if his bones were itching.
He didn’t have any rashes and ended up practically clawing the skin off of the top of his feet while he was sleeping. He was still itching the next day (almost to the point of tears – he’s 21 and is not the type to cry easily lol), so I started googling. Turns out that Zyrtec can have a horrific withdrawal syndrome that makes a person Itch. Like. Crazy. Even worse, it can last for weeks. Here’s the kicker – many people have contacted the FDA about this. To this day, the FDA does not require the manufacturers of cetirizine put a warning that this can possibly happen.
(Son ended up with a nasty staph infection on both feet where he itched the skin off. I took pity on him and bought more Zyrtec. As soon as it was in his system, the itching stopped).
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2013/05/06/cetirizine-zyrtec-withdrawal-unbearable-itching/
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/zyrtec.html
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2013/02/21/zyrtec-withdrawal-is-a-nightmare/
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/23x87z/why_is_zyrtec_cetirizine_otc_when_it_has/
Marijuana is not as dangerous as Heroin,,really?wasn’t heroin once a medicine??as is marijuana, I personally do not need marijuana, but others I know do,,for migrains,chemo anti nausea,,We all saw that little girls seizure’s halted w/essential oils from the marijuana plant..The dea want employment,,anyone who works for them are control freaks w/psychotic personalities,,I kinda like the U.N ideation on this 1,,”STOP ALL MILITARY POLICING,” on drugs and treat it more like a disease,,U know how many times a day the dea hits the wrong house,,and kills someone innocent,,,The D.P.A. HAS AN ENTIRE PAGE DEDICATED TO THE WRONG ADDRESS’ES,,like 75 of them soo that’s like 1 in ever 4 days,,wrong address!!!and because the poor soul freaks w/ a bunch goons in black camo w/guns busting into their homes,,they themselves not knowing who it is panic and god forbid try to defend their wife and kids,,the dea literally kills them,,on the spot,,for in their word ,”not cooperating, ‘I don’t mean to keep harpen about the U.N,,but we sent them pages from dpa’s site of the ,”wrong address’s,” the dea hit,and killed the innocent homeowners,.So the U.N knows exactly what America has become.,The dea is a bunch of bully’s w/trigger happy goons being paid for by our tax dollars and our innocent doctors assets now a days,,jmo,,,defund the dea,,use that money to build a new system where jail is no longer an option for any who chooses to use drugs illegally, make it like 5 strikes your out type thing,,a residential treatment/trade school type system,,that does not go on your permanent record..All these people who get caught for drugs will never work again in a good paying job,,instead of putting the knife in their backs deeper and deeper,,give them help to rise above their drug addiction,,to help them get a good trade and start life all over again..With these drug conviction on their record permanantly we are creating poverty,,,which I really am thinking is exactly what ,our government wants,,a steady stream of what the current legal system deems” convicts”,,thus employments for the prison and employment for the dea! ALL ON OUR DIME,,MAKE ALL NATURAL PLANTS LEGAL,,MARIJUANA,POPPY,COCA,,,put a quantity restriction on it,,a restriction of only in its natural form is it legal,,and watch thee tax dollars come in,,watch the number of chronic physical pain patients take care of themselves w/out this made up burden ,”we cost the medical system to much money,” watch that go away,,As we as Adults can determine what and how much we need of natural medicine to lessen our physical pain,,Let us as Adults decide what we put in our own bodies,,as our forefather fought and died for that very freedom,and the freedom to know that rite will never be taken from us,,as it already has been,,jmo,,mary