Willits:Medical marijuana and the federal governmnent

Pub Date: February 20, 2008
Pub Source: The Willits News http://origin.willitsnews.com/ci_8315018?source=email
editorial [at] willitsnews.com


Medical marijuana and the federal government
By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer


It remains unclear why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to classify
marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the most dangerous classification available along
with heroin, PCP (angel dust) and LSD, while in 1998 classifying Marinol, a
synthetic THC (the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana), as a Schedule 3 drug.
This despite polls showing most Americans would support reclassification.
Even a reclassification of marijuana to a Schedule 2 category such as cocaine and
coca leaves, raw opium and poppy straw, morphine and methamphetamines, would allow
physicians to prescribe it for medical patients and pharmacies to dispense it.

In 1996, when California led 12 other states in passing medical marijuana
protection, the language in Proposition 215
encouraged the federal and state governments to work together to resolve any
conflicts. Many who voted for Prop. 215 assumed it would take little time before
doctors could legally prescribe marijuana and patients could pick it up at their
local pharmacy.

More than 11 years later, the situation remains conflicted between state, federal
and even local laws, which has encouraged an entire new class of lawless
"bootleggers" to supply medical marijuana needs, reminiscent to many of the time of
Prohibition (1920-1933) when drinking alcohol was illegal in the United States.
Prohibition brought with it the rise of organized crime to supply the illegal
market and "speakeasies" with bootleg alcohol. At the time, the cost to enforce
Prohibition was high, no tax revenues were received on the illegal hooch and a
highly profitable and violent black market system supplied alcohol to nearly every
corner of the nation. Some of the alcohol was made locally and some imported
illegally from Canada and Mexico. The parallel between the current marijuana
culture in Mendocino County and the Prohibition years is striking.
The continued classification of marijuana by the federal government with such
serious drugs as heroin and PCP appears to contradict the government's own research.
If the Food and Drug Administration had reclassified marijuana sometime since 1996,
much of the conflict between state and federal laws associated with medical
marijuana would have been resolved. Doctors prescribe Schedule II drugs and
pharmacies fill those prescriptions every day throughout the country. Unauthorized
use and sale of Schedule II drugs are still illegal but the rules provide a way for
doctors legally to prescribe them to patients.

Much of the literature associated with keeping marijuana as a Schedule I drug
centers around its addictive qualities, this despite substantial research that has
debunked this. It has also been dubbed the "gateway drug" despite the federal
governments own research to the contrary. Even the Office of National Drug Control
Policy states "smoking marijuana may allow patients to temporarily feel better."
Most Schedule 2 drugs are also addictive and many have serious side effects.

There are two ways for a drug to be reclassified, the FDA can do it administratively
or Congress can act. The administration of the FDA under both presidents Bill
Clinton and George Bush have consistently refused to consider the reclassification
in large part because it is a plant and not a formulated drug with full scale
testing sponsored by a pharmaceutical drug company. "The federal government-along
with many state governments and private antidrug organizations-staunchly maintains
that botanical marijuana is a dangerous drug without any legitimate medical use,"
according to a 2006 congressional policy assessment.

Bills have been defeated during the past five Congressional terms, which would have
either reclassified marijuana or prevented the U.S. Department of Justice from
prosecuting medical marijuana users, cultivators or distributors.
"Rescheduling seems to be supported by public opinion. A nationwide Gallup Poll
conducted in March 1999 found that 73 percent of American adults favor "making
marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and
suffering." An American Association of Retired Persons poll of American adults age
45 and older conducted in mid-November 2004 found 72 percent agree that adults
"should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if recommended by a
physician."