# U.S. decrees that marijuana has no accepted medical use



## FruityBud (Jul 9, 2011)

*The decision by the DEA comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis to take into account a growing body of research that shows its effectiveness in treating certain diseases.*

Marijuana has been approved by California, many other states and the nation's capital to treat a range of illnesses, but in a decision announced Friday the federal government ruled that it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin.

The decision comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis to take into account a growing body of worldwide research that shows its effectiveness in treating certain diseases, such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

Advocates for the medical use of the drug criticized the ruling but were elated that the Obama administration has finally acted, which allows them to appeal to the federal courts. The decision to deny the request was made by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and comes less than two months after advocates asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to force the administration to respond to their petition.

"We have foiled the government's strategy of delay, and we can now go head-to-head on the merits," said Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access and the lead attorney on the lawsuit.

Elford said he was not surprised by the decision, which comes after the Obama administration announced it would not tolerate large-scale commercial marijuana cultivation. "It is clearly motivated by a political decision that is anti-marijuana," he said. He noted that studies demonstrate pot has beneficial effects, including appetite stimulation for people undergoing chemotherapy. "One of the things people say about marijuana is that it gives you the munchies and the truth is that it does, and for some people that's a very positive thing."

In a June 21 letter to the organizations that filed the petition, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said she rejected the request because marijuana "has a high potential for abuse," "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" and "lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision." The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published Friday in the Federal Register.

This is the third time that petitions to reclassify marijuana have been spurned. The first was filed in 1972 and denied 17 years later. The second was filed in 1995 and denied six years later. Both decisions were appealed, but the courts sided with the federal government.

The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis filed its petition in October 2002. In 2004, the DEA asked the Department of Health and Human Services to review the science. The department recommended in 2006 that marijuana remain classified as a dangerous drug. Four and a half years then elapsed before the current administration issued a final denial.

"The regulatory process is just a time-consuming one that usually takes years to go through," said Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The DEA's decision comes as researchers continue to identify beneficial effects. Dr. Igor Grant, a neuropsychiatrist who is the director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego, said state-supported clinical trials show that marijuana helps with neuropathic pain and muscle spasticity. He said the federal government's position discourages scientists from pursuing research needed to test the drug's medical effectiveness. "We're trapped in kind of a vicious cycle here," he said. "It's always a danger if the government acts on certain kinds of persuasions or beliefs rather than evidence."

Popular opinion has also swung behind medical marijuana. Americans overwhelmingly support it in national polls. When the petition was filed, eight states had approved medical marijuana. Now 16 states and the District of Columbia have done so. In 2009, the American Medical Assn. urged the government to review its classification of marijuana "with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods."

When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, it listed marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the most restrictive of five categories. But some federal officials have questioned that decision. In 1972, a commission recommended that marijuana be decriminalized. And in 1988, a DEA administrative law judge concluded that "marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people." The National Cancer Institute, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, notes that marijuana may help with nausea, loss of appetite, pain and insomnia.

Nonetheless, the DEA concluded that marijuana has no accepted medical use, Leonhart wrote in her letter, because its chemistry is not known and adequate studies have not been done on its usefulness or safety. "At this time," she said, "the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy."

*hxxp://tinyurl.com/5sbr8hh*


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## crozar (Jul 9, 2011)

i was young and clean and healthy , strong like the birds fly , i was happy and laughing that the colors of the room smile with me ....

after i started smoking ...
i wokeup next day with a hangover , its not alcohol its weed but the hangover shows for the people who we're at optimal health from before and can detect it with their minds without a phobia of curiosity .

now i smoke i smoke i smoke more...... i stopped and i had more effects that hit me that i now realize it hurt my body

in a thought about paradise and heaven , having that fulfilled in life i agree on smoking and drinking and having sex in the park or the plane , but i saw the 3 sides , ive been good and happy , ive been all in all and i have been like u right now , in the end theirs 1 answer il give it to u whether its phase to show the destiny in our life.


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## Locked (Jul 9, 2011)

crozar said:
			
		

> i was young and clean and healthy , strong like the birds fly , i was happy and laughing that the colors of the room smile with me ....
> 
> after i started smoking ...
> i wokeup next day with a hangover , its not alcohol its weed but the hangover shows for the people who we're at optimal health from before and can detect it with their minds without a phobia of curiosity .
> ...



I am glad to see you post again crozar....hope you are doing okay.
I hve always said your posts are like hypnotic poems....
Stay safe.


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## nvthis (Jul 10, 2011)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> *The decision by the DEA *


 
Well hell, there's your problem right there... Good to see things remain predictable.. And Cozar, what the hell man?


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## mrcane (Jul 10, 2011)

The D E A is just protecting there interest...There Jobs
Marijuana helps my neurological problems BIG time!!


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## ozzydiodude (Jul 10, 2011)

I don't see how this could suprize anyone the US still has Gov't officials that think the earth is flat.


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## Menimeth (Jul 11, 2011)

for the DEA to admit that marijuana has any uses at all, other than illegal ones, would be the same as admitting that the american people have been lied to, cheated, robbed, imprisoned, and murdered, for the last 70 years in the name of greed and power. It would invaladitate the thousands of agents that they have acquired since the laws were passed so many years ago, and put into question the integraty of those leaders who disreguarded the facts in favor of disinformation. No, if they want to keep their jobs, they can never admit that marijuana has true medical benifits, and that the danger that the plant poses to the public does not truly exist. Of course this is just my opinion.


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## Mutt (Jul 11, 2011)

> Once asked if marijuana would become legal, Hillary Clinton responded, "No, there's too much money in it."



and there is the real reason it's illegal.


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## Rosebud (Jul 11, 2011)

well, i guess i will go smoke up some heroin, Not. Comparing it to heroin..i am speechless.


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## umbra (Jul 11, 2011)

My favorite is that it is a gateway drug. A gateway to what...cocaine? But that's a class II drug. So if its a gateway drug and its class I, how can it be a gateway to a lesser classified drug?


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## Mutt (Jul 11, 2011)

It is a gateway drug....everytime i open that fridge door after a huge fat bowl...it feels like a gateway to munchie bliss :hubba:


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## mrcane (Jul 11, 2011)

Gateway to what?? My wife has smoked MJ since her teens and has never touched a hard drug!


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## ozzydiodude (Jul 11, 2011)

:confused2: Are they saying Marijuana use leds to Vigira the hardener drug:rofl:


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## Irish (Jul 12, 2011)

i can't even reply to this after seeing the usefulness mj did for my mom when she passed last year with cancer. she said, from a couple puffs from a j, ''i feel like i can plan for tomorrow now''...

after a chemo treatment i asked, ''how are you feeling mom?'' she answered, ''i just want to go and close my eyes, and hope it's over soon''...

the defense rests...

appeal it til they are gone too...


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## Genuine (Jul 12, 2011)

Have you guys ever heard of conspiracy and corruption? Attorney Genera Eric Holder  just lied to a Congressional Committee about his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, an ATF operation involving 2000+ weapons being provided to Mexican Drug Cartels through the US Government or in other words, our tax money, which Pres Obama signed off a portion of the Stimulus Bill in 2009 to provide financial support to the operation, only to recently claim he never knew anyting about it...There is undeniable evidence of HOlder admitting to being involved in this operation but he told a Congressional Committee in May of this year that, "I probably heard of Fast and Furious the first time in the last few weeks."... 

An article published Friday, 8 July 2011, The Stimulation of Murder, by Investor's Business Daily, explained that A.G. Holder was, in spite of his denial, fully aware of the ATF's gun-running to Mexico operations, to the point that it was fully disclosed in President Barack Obama's STimulus Bill. 

"Right there in the stimulus bill that no one in Congress bothered to read is $10 million for Project Gunrunner (aka Operation Fast and Furious), which resulted in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and increased drug cartel violence", the article stated. 

This is Holder admitting his knowledge of the operation:

Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference in CUERNAVACA, MEXICO Thursday, April 2, 2009 :

"Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels. My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion. DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail. 

But as today&#8217;s conference has emphasized, the problem of arms trafficking will not be stopped at the border alone. Rather, as our experts emphasized, this is a problem that must be met as part of a comprehensive attack against the cartels &#8211; an attack in depth, on both sides of the border, that focuses on the leadership and assets of the cartel..." - Eric Holder, US Attorney General

So we have the US Attorney Genera lying to a Congressional Committee about state sponsored terrorism which lead to the death of two federal agents and probably thousands of innocent civilians. Now why in the world would our government want to sell guns to mexican drug cartels and propogate the "drug cartel threat"? The end of the drug war would lead to legalization of marijuana as a health treatment on a federal level and this move would devastate the current U.S. pharmaceutical industry as obviously they have the least to benefit. But if the war continued, there would be no threat of detriment to the pharmaceutical industry. 

So the Obama administration outright goes back on their word and reverts to a nazi-esque final solution aimed at Marijuana and other "illegal subtances" by not only placing oil on the fire in the drug war with their actions in suppplying the weapons to the enemy, but then to completely outlaw Marijuana even though The Pres already stated his intent to follow through on easing restrictions for Marijuana.


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## Roddy (Jul 12, 2011)

There's 5 minutes I'll never get back......


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