Federal: NEW Measure Introduced To Reschedule Marijuana

the maximum penalty is two whole years less for a Schedule II drug than a Schedule I drug.

but I think it's interesting that a Republican sees a need to try to do some damage control on this issue.

Considering that the DEA and Congress have refused to address the erroneous scheduling for 50 years - we now have four measures put forth.

I don't want this one to pass - I want the full removal of cannabis from the drug schedules, as Polis' bill would do.

Doesn't go far enough. If these guys want my attention in a favorable way, they're going to have to do a LOT more than this, and not just in the marijuana realm, either.

and know prohibition is not a winning position for liberals or independents - or economic conservatives - but they still have to appeal to their religious base - so maybe this is supposed to make them look "not batshit" with reefer madness.

Gupta really did a great job getting the message out about the medical value of marijuana - in response, conservatives first tried to limit medical marijuana to CBD-only strains.

Then Gupta said - CBD-only strains aren't sufficient b/c of the entourage effect with cannabinoids - so now they're down to.. okay, but only for medical use.

LOL.

It reminds me of the former drug czar bureaucrats who moved on from lying about all cannabis to lying about Sativex while lobbying the DEA by claiming Sativex isn't cannabis - when it most certainly is - and includes THC. It pays well to be a liar whose lies have destroyed lives. Funny how that works.

schedule 2 drugs do, that means more doctors will feel free to prescribe them and can also perform research into their efficacy. Something they couldn't do before.

The only legal research into cannabis is documenting it's "harm", because you can't "ethically" study a substance that has no medicinal value.

one less catch 22

Thats why meth and strong opiates are schedule 2.

watch it. some folks are sarcasm impaired (not Jesus, tho)

Sometimes just like to troll for the impaired. ..

The one in this thread.

The other guy had good things to say, too, - it's just some who've co-opted his name that I have issues with.

since the government holds a patent for medical use. Rescheduling to SII is just a bunch of smoke and mirros.

Since the DEA controls their ability to prescribe medicines. Prescribing drugs that have no approved medical uses is a big no no.

This is pretty big for research and med cannabis in general.

Christ people, one step at a time.

the DEA has known that every legal and medical source who has looked into this issue w/o being forced to kowtow to the right wing and the DEA, etc. know cannabis should not be on the drugs schedule AT ALL.

Even the DEA's own judge came to this conclusion.

The initial placement was supposed to be temporary - which was a massive dodge by Nixon to be able to use marijuana as a way to implement the Southern Strategy and his vendetta against, "Jews, psychiatrists" ...and whoever the freak else was on his enemies list.

Nixon is DEAD. Why is his zombie corpse still animating any discussion of this issue?

That doesn't mean I won't celebrate progress. We haven't budged an inch on marijuana policy in these 50 years and suddenly we are budging several inches in a short amount of time. The damn cracks before it breaks.

But I agree with you about celebrating progress.

However, Democrats have already done much better work on this - better bills that would make more sense.

So I see this as a countermove against the Democrats.

I hope this issue tears the Republican Party apart.

Economic conservatives v. religious haters/fearmongers - tho even Pat Robertson was talking up cannabis one day, so maybe hell will shortly freeze over, who knows.

And then there's Issa and others who want to be able to sue Obama for not using the DEA to go after CO.

LOL. They're so out of the loop - as always.

It must suck to know the nation doesn't support your pov so you have to gerrymander districts to pretend to be relevant.

And she even does that to other women herself. That's just how we talk I guess.

I don't note my gender in my profile, etc.

I was just joking with you.

But I do have to ask where your name came from. Sounds like it could be some electronica/rap group.

Like I'm trying to think of an awesome, totally elite nick. So I come up with this idea of my cyber-persona being digital and not physical (ie flesh). So then I thought of Flesh Deaf, which at the time, I defined as an "absence of the flesh", almost had some purposeful creepy religious overtones to it and then I spelled it differently, once again, because I was a pretentious 16 year old trying to be all cool and elite and alternative, yadda, yadda. Regardless, I continued to use it as a nick and it just kind've stuck. Here I am at 34 and still using it lol. Some places I just use "Phlesh" now if its not already taken.

Tom Waits' Rain Dogs cd was sitting beside me when I registered for DU. This is the only place I use this name - there are tons of "rain dogs" all over the web, so I guess I'm lucky I used it here before someone else did or I would've had to call myself Small Change - which doesn't sound so good, politically.

So, you have a user name older than your marriage...

when I came online, I was only on private listservs for a long time - DU was really the first place I joined or participated in an anonymous group.

He knows something has to change and is hoping to keep his prison owning cronies in business...

How many fucking steps does it take? Please, the government has been stonewalling about marijuana for years.

for those fallen arches.

I think this is a bad thing. If they make it a schedule II it will be another 50 years before it's dropped from the schedules. The pressure to legalize should stay strong. Why surrender in the the war when battles are being won?

Zantac, Claritin, Nexium, Prilosec, Monistat, Motrin (naproxen sodium) and a host of others used to require prescriptions.

but none of them make you feel better while they're supposed to be working to make you feel better...

cause, you know, can't have that - it's unAmeriPuritan.

Next thing you know, cancer patients will start laughing (which, iirc, was exactly one cancer patient's "prescription" to help people survive their treatment.)

We've had many decades where they wouldn't budge at all, now we are seeing quite a bit of budging. Its a great sign, just be patient.

Why back down now? It's being legalized in some states and the pressure to legalize should continue. A Schedule II designation will only set back the push for legalization.

You don't surrender when you are winning battles. It's nothing but an attempt to pacify those who want legalization - it seems to be working on some people.

to the medical benefits, we still need to address the criminal justice/sociological issue of locking people up over possession of the substance. I recently found out that all federal financial aid for college students can be withdrawn if a student has a drug related arrest. That is absolutely criminal. You have a kid at the crossroads of life who uses cannabis during college, and gets arrested, who will wind up ensconced in criminal culture with opportunity for self improvement through education removed simply because he got caught with cannabis. What a tragic start for a young adult. Those consequences would drive me to drink.

There are rectifications needed beyond medical meaning we can not accept limited medical use as a stepping stone because it would be such an easy resting point. We could be stuck there for decades simply because we bunted when we could have knocked it out of the park, or at least hit a double.

But, again, this may be in response to Gupta - he really put the crack in the wall for middle America - tho he didn't say anything that hasn't been said by those who have followed this issue for decades.

He just said it in a venue outside of those considered advocates (and thus possibly prejudiced.)

This bill, tho, will absolutely not solve the current state/federal impasse regarding recreational cannabis.

btw, 2000 people were protesting in DFW this weekend b/c of marijuana prohibition.

This issue is not going to go away until prohibition is over.

The prohibitionists have already lost - they just haven't accepted the terms of their surrender yet.

Removal from Schedule 1 is the first step in a happy and hopefully short legalization process that will end this stupid prohibition once and or all. How much have we spent on the war on drugs so far? Over $1 TRILLION since the days of Nixon, according to CNN.

And what has it done for us? Subsidized vicious drug cartels. Allowed big banks to profit from laundering money. Bloated our law enforcement 'community' into an uber-militarized group more into control than common sense. And let's not forget the private prisons - a COMPLETE conflict of interest.

Yep, plenty of people have made lots of money and in the meantime hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans have had their lives ruined (did you know that someone convicted of a drug offense is NOT ELIGIBLE for federal financial aid for college???) - which has inordinately affected minorities.

There has been NOTHING good for the American people whatsoever about the war on drugs. We lost it the day it started.

Of course, ending it will cost the CIA a sure-fire funding stream - because they get plenty of profit from drug operations.

How did America become what it has become?

prohibition of marijuana is one way we became what we are today.

When I started learning about this issue, I realized it's one of the longest-lasting lying propaganda wars on the American people, ever.

The war on drugs is really a war on the American people and their processes of democracy.

it's an attempt to pacify the people in the states that are looking seriously at legalization. If they reschedule it, it will stay on the books for another 50 years.

It's still a maximum sentence of 5 years, only 2 less than the 7 for a schedule I drug.

Medical Marijuana shops so the feds won't raid their shops or bank accounts just because they can.

possibilities for years.

number of parents who have suddenly become ardent med. mj supporters after Gupta reported on the effects of mj for a variety of illnesses - some of which included small children.

Since then, state after state has had to look at the issue - so this would provide cover for the talibornagains in state legs who don't want to touch the issue.

If it passes quickly - okay. Get it to the people who need it.

But - like you - I'm pretty cynical about feds' desire to keep this cash cow of prohibition.

but it is, so here we are...

I find it interesting that a Republican is stepping back from the drug war.

I live in NY - we are trying to get a medical marijuana bill passed.

I haven't seen the bill yet, but I heard that it is very limited to the actual use of pot.

Perhaps getting pot down to schedule II will open up treatment for those that will benefit..

It doesn't help the recreational use scene at all. What can you do?

Peace and low stress..

about a mother who moved her daughter from VA to CO to access medical marijuana for epilepsy, rather than partially lobotomize her daughter.

The mother moved last year. She is one of hundreds who feel forced to leave their states because their lawmakers care more about military contractors than this nation's children.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024937087