Mr President, please don't consider re-scheduling marijuana and

[truedelphi]

Please don't consider any other methods of legalizing the substance on the Federal Government level.

I lie awake at night worrying about the Big Pharmaceutical companies. How will they ever re-coup the costs of patenting of various cannibanoids? If the Federal Government allows medical marijuana or marijuana itself to be re-scheduled, or taken off the schedule completely, does this mean that many of the top executives at Big Pharma companies will go to bed hungry? Or heavens perish the thought, they might have to go on food stamps, or the executives of those corporations over in the UK might need to start making use of Britain dwindling social safety net. How unfair to those hard working people would that be?

(Link: http://www.theweedblog.com/pharmaceutical-companies-rush-to-patent-medical-marijuana/!

So perish that thought!

My concerns also extend to the executives of the many Big Privatization of California prison efforts. How will we keep so many of the prison cells filled to overflow, if we stop having the DOJ, DEA, and ICE come into California and bust people who are growing their own?

I also worry about the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has had to kick this issue around so many times that I think the issue has consumed far too much of their time. They have such contradictory legalese to consider regarding the issue that one year they make one decision, and the next year yet another.


Here is a topic that came up at DU about all the various in's and out's of the current legal situation:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2112283#2112576

And here is a link to Huff Po, from back in 2009, where so many folks celebrated the Supreme Court's ruling on Medical Marijuana, which gave some sanctity to the notion that state's rights on this matter trumped the Federal Government's rights:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/18/supreme-court-hands-medic_n_204681.html

President Obama, just because almost every poll taken in the last nine months shows that 60 to 70 percent of the populace of the USA wants this drug de-criminalized or taken off the Federal Scheduling of Drugs completely, doesn't mean you need to listen to that segment of the population. You were offered the Big Bucks you needed for your election by your Corporate Friends, who hold Corporate Personhood. Please don't feel that in the Twentieth First Century, mere human beings need to be considered!

Instead keep doing as you are doing already. Keep failing to mention th e unique ability of the Attorney General ( a person who is appointed by you!) to be able to take marijuana off the Federal Drug Schedule.Keep suggesting again and again that there is not any way for the Executive Branch to do anything about the medical marijuana issue.

Instead, keep insisting that it is up to Congress. After all, you then are able to rest secure in the knowledge that Congress has only Three Percent of its population approving of legalizing or de-criminalizing the substance. By the time that Congress becomes liberal enough to do this, the folks at the Big Pharma and Big Private Prison Corporations will be able to continue to plague the rest of us into obtaining prescriptions for our medical needs, or else risking the inside of a jail cell.

I hate my freedom, Mr President, so keep doing as you are doing!

[RainDog]

1. LOL n/t

[Bozvotros]

2. Two things have the pharmaceutical companies shaking in their boots

Legal marijuana which could replace 100 billion in prescription medications for antispasmodics, anti-psychotics, antidepressants, appetite stimulants, bipolar medications, glaucoma medications, pain medications and specialized medications to ease alcohol and opiate withdrawal, tranquilizers, sleep medications, AIDS and Cancer Drugs and many more we don't know yet. Once good old American know how starts discovering ways to control and standardize levels of THC and cannabinoids and which levels are most effective for which conditions, the big orgy of pharmaceutical profits will grind to a halt. We can't have that.

It would also lead to legal hemp which would crush cotton and polyester producers as well as paper mills. They simply will not allow it to happen and can and will spend billions to stop it.

The other thing is the electronic cigarette. 6 billion in high profit, low effectiveness nicotine replacement products would just dry up, along with two billion for Chantix, Zyban and other worthless and dangerous pharmacueticals. Not to mention the hundreds of billions in state and federal taxes they are soaking smokers out of.

[Chathamization]

11. Psilocybin Mushrooms Too

There's been research on them at Johns Hopkins which shows that they might work pretty well for people with depression and OCD, and that they might have benefits for the average person. The government thinks they're safe enough for people to use them in experiments, but outlaws them outside of that.

[RainDog]

12. Psilocybin for cluster headaches, too

also for PTSD and for use as a "detox" to help addicts through withdrawal from substances like heroin and alcohol.

[davidpdx]

3. Your post, though sarcastic made me think of something

If it was rescheduled what would keep the pharmaceutical companies from using it in certain ways and then laying a patient on it. I've heard (but am not familiar with) that it can be used in different ways which would apply to different illnesses. If the pharmaceutical company obtained a patient how would it change the possible ways it could be used? I have no idea whether this is possible or not, just a random thought.

BTW I'm not arguing for or against rescheduling it, just debating (with myself) about possible ways company's could abuse its legalization.

[RainDog]

4. cannabis cannot be patented

Last edited Sat May 18, 2013, 10:39 AM - Edit history (1)

companies can and do (and have) received patents for synthetic molecules that mimic natural cannabinoids. The three best known cannabinoids are THC, CBD and CBG.

Marinol is synthetic THC and it has been patented for decades. It is also a schedule II substance (which means it is considered less dangerous than whole plant cannabis.)

Another company created a CBD synthetic that was withdrawn from the market because CBD without the THC (and blocking the internal cannabinoid receptors) made people want to kill themselves.

The reasons the molecules are isolated is because this is the basis for standard drug work (and this is the reason a plant will never be a drug, no matter that it's called one.)

Another company, Sativex, has taken whole cannabis plants (a mixture of sativa, indica and ruderalis species), ground them up, put them in a solvent, and created a delivery system via a titrated spray that is taken orally. They can patent their "blend" of cannabis and their delivery system.

This company is already supplying Sativex for health care uses in 4 nations and has applied for DEA classification to become part of the American medical pharmacy for health problems related to MS (and epilepsy and others are forthcoming.) Sativex has been legal in Canada since 2005, for doctors to prescribe for certain conditions.

The reality about pharmaceutical drugs, however, is that they are frequently prescribed "off label," which means some benefit has been found related to other conditions (an anti-convulsant, for instance, is sometimes prescribed as treatment for bipolar disorder. beta blockers, used for heart disease, are prescribed for panic disorders.) I don't know if the legal drug lords want to try to claim an exception for cannabis, if so, that would be a first, as far as I know.

What has been funny to see are articles in places like Australia that talk about Sativex as a drug to help people who are addicted to cannabis. uh, that's what it is.

...one such moment here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=34078
...and another one: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002249650

Anyway, it's interesting to read what companies are saying that are trying to create a space in this emerging market. The same drug war lies about cannabis are being shaded into marketing reports about the value of pharmaceutical cannabis products. I was reading press releases about potential benefits to potential cannabis-derived medicines and the big deal is to position themselves as "better than" cannabis - and not the same, tho the same.

What's even funnier is that former bureaucrats in the Drug Czar's office are now lobbying for Sativex to be allowed in the American market.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=32560

[truedelphi]

5. Very nice outline of the

"Up is down" thinking of the spokespeople from the Government Agenicies and the Corporate World who think it is their place to instruct us about reality.

As someone who uses herbal remedies, i was smirking at the recent news that Nestle Corporation wants to patent the fennel flower. Apparently it has some fabulous health properties, and now Nestle wants to own those. So for over a hundred years, we herbalists have been told that our remedies are nothing but snake oil - but now that Nestle has discovered one that it can prove has efficacy, it wants ownership. And I don't see the people at Nestle offering any apologies to us herbalists for our insight and wisdom being called nonsense all these decades!

As far as "off label treatments" - are you familiar with the development story behind Viagra? The company that made it thought it had value as a heart remedy. So it was offered as part of a double blind controlled study to some heart patients.

Midway through, and the company scientists found out Viagra does NOTHING for heart problems. So the company officials did what they always do in such a case - they sent letters asking the patients to return their VIagra, as it wasn't worthwhile. Almost no one complied - which was unusual of itself. So then they phoned people, asking them to send their Viagra back. No one did. Then they sent people out to the patients' homes, and when face to face with people, they found out that Viagra had a property that made it indispensable in some households.

[RainDog]

10. never knew how viagra came to be

but, yeah, the reality is that observation is the first line in the creation of medicines.

and, yeah, the contortions of language and logic required to uphold the status quo behind current cannabis law would make Harry Houdini look on in wonder.

[davidpdx]

7. Very interesting stuff

I'm glad they can't do that. If it was legalized it seems like one of the reasons would be for the greater good of the people. Of course we know that corporations don't see things that way.

[RainDog]

9. I had to correct that last link

to this - http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=32560

Listen to what the govt. mouthpieces are saying. Even Kerlikowske had to backtrack on his "no medical benefit" from cannabis statement. He amended it to "no medical benefit from SMOKED marijuana."

This, however, is still a lie.

Cannabis has not demonstrated the same problems as cigarettes for people who use mj via smoke. The doctor who has done the most studies on this issue expected to find that cannabis smokers had reduced lung capacity and more cases of lung disease - and this doctor noted it appears that cigarette smokers who are also cannabis users had reduced rates of lung cancer. This was related to a 20 year study.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101422478#post101

The Journal of the American Medical Asso. even noted that cannabis smokers had increased lung capacity.

http://pulmccm.org/2012/asthma-review/infrequent-pot-smokers-have-better-lung-function-than-non-tokers-jama/

Smoking marijuana moderately over years is strongly associated with small improvements in lung function, even compared to people who have never smoked cigarettes or marijuana, according to a study in JAMA. But the popular news media and the study authors downplayed that finding of the study, apparently to avoid sending a pro-marijuana message.

Mark Pletcher, Eric Vittiinghoff, Stefan Kertesz et al crunched numbers from the CARDIA study, which followed 5,115 young U.S. men and women for 20 years (1985-2006) collecting data on tobacco and marijuana use, and included spirometry from 20,777 clinic visits: an enormous trove of longitudinal data.

...in marijuana smokers who had smoked up to 3,650 marijuana cigarettes (10 “joint-years”), FEV1 and FVC were higher than matched nonsmokers. At these common levels of marijuana use, there was a steady dose-response relationship: the more marijuana smoked, the better the lung function (FEV1 increase of 13 mL/joint-year).

All these trends were highly statistically significant (p < 0.001), and supported by the large sample size and body of spirometric data.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. Deschedule the plant; let the FDA handle cannabis-based medicines.

I don't see how marijuana the plant can ever be approved as a medicine--what other whole plant is? (seriously, I don't know)--but if Big Pharma or anybody else wants to try to make Western-style standardized pharmaceuticals from its cannabinoids, it could be treated like any other plant-derived drugs.

Goddamn, it's a fricking plant!

[DiverDave]

8. He doesnt care what WE think

yeah, I said it, now someone alert it.
Your hero has clay feet.
Yeah, I said that too.