The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists marijuana in the most restrictive of five classes that the agency uses to regulate dangerous drugs. Schedule I substances have the greatest potential for abuse and supposedly have no medical value. Heroin, ecstasy, LSD, and marijuana are all Schedule I drugs. Bernie Sanders, who recently announced that he is running for president as a democratic socialist, co-sponsored the States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug instead of a Schedule I drug so it could be used for medicinal purposes.
Marijuana does not belong in Schedule II either because the methamphetamine, fentanyl, morphine, and cocaine currently listed as Schedule II drugs are extremely harmful to your health and can be fatal. In my opinion, marijuana should not be a controlled substance at all, because it does so much good and so little harm, but Congress passed it, Reagan signed it, and the DEA does not want to change it. Despite the fact that marijuana has never killed anyone and has numerous medical uses, especially for cancer, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and children with epilepsy, the DEA has turned down many petitions to reclassify the drug, most likely for political reasons.
The DEA claims there is not enough proof of marijuana’s medical value, but the DEA knows that the only reason there is not enough proof is because researchers cannot obtain and study marijuana to get the proof while it remains a Schedule I drug. The DEA’s chief, Michele Leonhart, recently had to step down because of corruption that involved DEA agents having sex with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels. With her out of the way, perhaps the next petition to reclassify and study marijuana won’t be denied.
When asked her opinion on marijuana, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that she had never tried it and she wants to see how things work out in the states before deciding whether or not she thinks the federal law should be changed. This “I’m not sure” type of answer is typical of most politicians on both sides other than Bernie Sanders, who says what he believes instead of what he thinks the voters want to hear. I would have much more respect for Hillary if she clearly stated, “I do not know whether or not legalizing recreational marijuana is a good idea for this country. I would like to re-examine the issue after seeing how it works out in the 5 states that are currently trying it. However, there is a great deal of scientific research that proves medical marijuana helps many very sick people who should not have to move to another state to get medicine. Marijuana is clearly less dangerous than heroin, ecstasy, LSD, crystal meth, and cocaine and it should be reclassified by the DEA out of Schedule 1 so more research can be done on it to determine all of its medical uses. Medical marijuana should be legal in all 50 states.”
How could any parent think his kid is in more danger because of marijuana than because of crystal meth and cocaine? How could any politician not know that medical marijuana can alleviate the suffering of many sick people and is far less dangerous than heroin? I believe they all know, but unlike Sanders, they receive large campaign contributions from the organizations that don’t want medical marijuana to be legal, such as beer and alcohol companies, police unions, private prison corporations, prison guard unions, and of course, the big pharmaceutical companies, who spent more than 20 million on lobbying against medical marijuana during the 2012 election. Sanders is the only candidate who can’t be bought by large corporations, but since he is honest and calls himself a socialist, he probably won’t get enough votes to become our next president.
Another recent development is the appointment of a new Attorney General. Unlike Attorney General Holder, Loretta Lynch, is opposed to medical marijuana and said she would veto any attempt by Congress to overturn the federal ban. She does not want to reclassify the drug from Schedule I to Schedule II, which would lift the banking and other operational restrictions that haunt most marijuana businesses, even in states that have decriminalized the drug.
Ms. Lynch may have difficulty with her agenda now that The National Institute on Drug Abuse has changed the language on its page dedicated to marijuana. They have stated on their website that CBD is a cannabinoid that does not affect the mind or behavior. The website also states that it may be useful in reducing pain and inflammation, controlling epileptic seizures, and possibly even treating mental illness and addictions.
In Oregon, Measure 91, which legalized recreational marijuana, clearly stated that the existing medical marijuana program was not to be affected, and the majority of the voters agreed with that. Measure 91 clearly stated that only the public vote can institute a ban. Unfortunately, the Oregon politicians are much like the politicians in Washington D.C. who threatened to fire the mayor a few months ago. They don’t want to implement legalization even though the voters approved it. Same story, different state.
Oregon’s joint committee wanted to reduce the number of medical marijuana gardens from 6 mature plants per patient to a limit of just 12 plants total, regardless of how many patients a grower serves, in urban areas, as well as new recordkeeping and inspection requirements for medical marijuana growers. When Oregon’s medical marijuana dispensaries were created by the legislature in 2013, they allowed city councils and county commissions to institute bans until May 1, 2015.
More than half of the cities and counties in Oregon instituted medical marijuana bans and did not want the bans to expire. What is the point of having people vote on whether or not something should be legal and then banning it? House members wanted these bans to automatically go to the ballot for the voters to decide. Senate members wanted bans to remain until the people collected enough signatures to put it to a vote of the people. This all makes very little sense when you consider the fact that the recreational marijuana legalization Measure 91 passed by a 56 percent vote and the law clearly states that in order to ban a recreational marijuana dispensary, it requires a vote of the people, not just the votes of city councils or county commissions. If these officials vote to ban medical marijuana dispensaries, they will certainly vote to ban recreational marijuana dispensaries, which contradicts Measure 91 and they will end up with the same problem that already exists in Washington State, where medical and recreational marijuana are only available in urban centers and the price is artificially inflated.
In Canada, “the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations made growing cannabis at home illegal, leaving government-approved cultivators as the only lawful source for medical marijuana.
Also illegal are dispensaries and any forms of medical marijuana other than dried flower. Because of these restrictions, the price patients pay has jumped almost tenfold.”1 Despite the fact that Canadians do not face a banking roadblock, since there is no conflict between federal and state law as we have in the U.S., major problems still exist because the government is trying to regulate marijuana with draconian rules.
Marijuana should be legal for medical use in all forms, whether it is smoked, vaporized, eaten, put in tea, or anything else the doctor says to do with it. Certain diseases require treatment in the form of marijuana oil. All types of medical marijuana should be legal and affordable regardless of where you live, and I know that someday it will be.
According to Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings, the nation’s leading cannabis private equity fund, “It’s very likely that the prohibition of retail cannabis will have ended by 2020.”2 No one knows for sure when the federal ban will end, but despite what the politicians and lobbyists want, the people want medical marijuana and they will not stop fighting until they can buy it legally in the state they choose to live in. Then, U.S. banks will no longer have to worry about the complications of loaning money to cannabis companies and business opportunities will flourish.
Footnotes
1 Dreibas, Tony C. (March 26, 2015) Ups and Downs in the Canadian Medical Marijuana Industry. Marijuana Business Daily. (Retrived from http://medical marijuana businessdaily.com/ups-downs-canadian-medical marijuana -industry/).
2 Thiruvengadam, Meena. (May 8, 2015 10:14 a.m.) Here’s how big the pot business will be by 2020. Yahoo Finance. (Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/here-s-how-big-the-pot-business-will-be-by-2020-140306078.html).