The "UP'S and Downs" of legalization .
Turning a new leaf as we would say , the DEA came down hard this week on any such hopes on a "medicinal" value to the plant . Even though there has been substantial research that medical cannabis has some value in treating illness . Marijuana (0)>>will still remain a Schedule l controlled substance, which declares it has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," the Drug Enforcement Administration said Thursday. This keeps the drug in the same category as heroin, LSD and Ecstasy. Dangerous, addictive, and without medical merit.Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the D.E.A., wrote in the decision . The federal government has sponsored negative propaganda about marijuana while allowing booze to be the national drug of choice. A large part of our prison population involves non-violent recreational and medical users, despite new findings with independent research that demonstrated cannabis was a powerful medical tool for even cancer.Here's the irony of all ironies. In 1974, the DEA decided on a study to prove marijuana kills brain cells as more “proof” for their anti-pot propaganda. The NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded the Virginia Medical College to study the effects on brain cells with an animal study. As the study progressed, what was leaked was not what the DEA wanted. Now I am just speculating that the DEA and it's decision is pretty much inlined with the new (1.1)>>incoming administration in Washington D.C. I mean Hillary R Clinton . Its a curious stance that is so full of hypocrisy , while the DEA and the FDA have long "approved" dangerous drugs that have killed people such as (1.2)>>Opioids - For now, Washington appears ready to allow opioid prescriptions to remain widely accessible, a victory for pharmacies, drug makers and, lawmakers say, consumers — and instead focus on the treatment of addiction, not its source. Still, the U.S. Justice Department's , and the DEA is unwilling to take such action, then it is incumbent that members of Congress act swiftly to amend cannabis’ criminal status in a way that comports with both public and scientific opinion. (2)>>But for Big Pharma and Big Tobacco – who fund these anti-marijuana efforts – it’s really about the bottom line. For years, large corporations and well-heeled lobbyists have blocked the legalization of marijuana for medical use or recreational use in order to protect their own profits.Reflecting the increasing acceptance of the drug, and in direct conflict with the DEA’s conclusion, some states have dialed down their marijuana laws in recent years. Prohibited across the country less than five years ago, marijuana is now legal and regulated in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The four states that have legalized recreational marijuana use have done so through ballot initiatives. And this November, voters in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada will also vote on ballot initiatives that would repeal prohibition of the drug. Indeed, as legalized pot grows in state after state, so has the industrial complex around it. This year, though, marks the first time this new legal pot industry has significantly contributed to making itself bigger.The public is split, however, on marijuana’s potential dangers. In Pew’s poll, among those who favored legalization, the belief that marijuana is not as dangerous as other drugs was the second most often cited reason for legalization, following its “medicinal benefits.” But those who thought marijuana shouldn’t be legal cited “dangerous, addictive” potential almost as frequently among their reasons against legalization. The shift in public opinion has been dramatic. According to annual Gallup polls, only a quarter of Americans supported marijuana legalization when California voted for medical marijuana in 1996, with that number gradually, but steadily, increasing to 44 percent in 2009, before spiking upward ever since then to sit at 58 percent now. California isn't the only state riding the wave this year . November 9th will be a big year for legalization in California , whether to legalize the use of recreational marijuana in the nation's most populous state.California's secretary of state announced that the measure had obtained enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. Its supporters have raised $3.53 million,The Sacramento Bee reports — nearly 31 times more than what opponents have raised.
POSSIBLE DANGERS HOWEVER .
I Joked at one time that the first people in line to buy Marijuana would be the politicians , and government officials . Now we have to have some serious talk about the stuff . I feel that there are (3)>>PROBLEMS with legalization . Most obvious is that people will mix cannabis with alcohol . And if your smoke cigarettes , Nicotine is the only drug that eclipses alcohol and marijuana as the most commonly used drugs in the U.S., according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. So, it makes sense that the latter two are also the most common drugs to be used together. Although most people probably have a preference of which drug they prefer, you most likely wouldn’t have to go very far to get a firsthand account of what it’s like to be high on alcohol and marijuana at the same time. What many don’t understand is the biology behind the side effects that follow using these drugs concurrently.Today's marijuana is more potent by far than the weed sold a generation ago, according to new data being presented. American Chemical Society (ACS).The research comes from Charas Scientific, one of a handful of labs certified to test the potency of marijuana in Colorado, where recreational use of the drug became legal last year. Compared to the 1980s, when federal officials say the level was about 4 percent, "that's a dramatic increase in the part that gets you high, of the samples his lab has tested in recent months.potency values close to 30 percent THC, which is huge.But the real question is whether marijuana use causes or increases the likelihood that someone uses other drugs. On that front researchers found that “there is no evidence to suggest that the use of cannabis causes or increases the risk that an individual will move on to use other drugs.” However on its own it is less "harmless" ? , knowing our population the potential of real harm. As more states consider decriminalizing marijuana, the scientific and public health communities are beginning to catch up with answers to some of the tough research questions about broad usage of the drug in the general population.
NOTES AND COMMENTS:
(0)>>will still remain a Schedule l .All drugs, both legal and illegal, are listed in various categories known as schedules, placed in Schedule I, are the most restrictive. Schedule I also includes heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.Drugs listed in Schedule II include some illegal substances, including cocaine, but also such legal (though carefully controlled) drugs such as Demerol, Vicodin, Ritalin, and OxyContin. Most prescription drugs with a lower potential for abuse are in Schedules III to V — the higher the number, the fewer the restrictions.(1.1)>>incoming administration in Washington D.C. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to have changed her mind when it comes to marijuana policy, according to National Journal. Clinton had previously expressed that she did not want marijuana decriminalized, but thought research ought to be done into its benefits. On Tuesday, she appeared to be more acquiescent to a change in the law. Clinton called for more research to be done, without doubting the medical benefits. Hillary stopped short of making an endorsement, saying, “I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet.”When she came to the issue of whether it should be legal for adults to use, Clinton said that states like Colorado and Washington have already reformed and that they are “laboratories of democracy.” Clinton claims to be holding out on forming her opinion until she has the evidence from the two states. Her change of heart mirrors that of the Democratic Party, which, as of late, has become more amenable to the case for making marijuana legal for adults to use, medically or otherwise.
(1.2)>>Opioids. Medications that fall within this class include hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (e.g., Kadian, Avinza), codeine, and related drugs. Hydrocodone products are the most commonly prescribed for a variety of painful conditions, including dental and injury-related pain.Morphine is often used before and after surgical procedures to alleviate severe pain. Codeine, on the other hand, is often prescribed for mild pain. In addition to their pain relieving properties, some of these drugs—codeine and diphenoxylate (Lomotil) for example—can be used to relieve coughs and severe diarrhea. According to a 2015 National Bureau of Economic Research study, “States permitting medical marijuana dispensaries experience a relative decrease in both opioid addictions and opioid overdose deaths compared to states that do not.”Separate studies also find that cannabis is associated with better treatment outcomes in opioid-dependent subjects. Writing this year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, researchers at Columbia University reported a “beneficial effect of marijuana smoking on treatment retention.”They added, “Participants who smoked marijuana had less difficulty with sleep and anxiety and were more likely to remain in treatment as compared to those who were not using marijuana.”Opioids were responsible for over 2,000 deaths in New England over the last year, while cannabis is incapable of causing death by overdose. Politicians should welcome the opportunity to bring necessary and long-overdue regulatory controls to the marijuana market. (2)>>But for Big Pharma and Big Tobacco .The crusaders against weed constitute a long list of suspiciously self-interested folks.Lobbyists work hard to secure for police departments millions of dollars in federal grants towards eradicating weed. Pharmaceutical companies compensate leading anti-marijuana researchers in order to keep their customers on painkillers over cannabis, which is cheaper. The prison-industrial complex would like to keep making money on building more prisons to fill with non-violent grass-smokers.The alcohol and beer industries have also lobbied for years to keep marijuana illegal because they fear the competition that legalized weed would bring. Howard Wooldridge, an anti-drug war activist and retired cop told the online publication Republic Report: “Marijuana and alcohol compete right today as a product to take the edge off the day at six o’clock.” (3)>>PROBLEMS. Using alcohol and marijuana at the same time is often referred to as "cross fading." Some people will mix the two because they enjoy the unique high it gives them. For others, they are already so intoxicated with alcohol that they are no longer making rational decisions. To them, taking a toke of a joint seems like a good idea at the time, although some may regret it later. When people smoke marijuana and drink alcohol at the same time they can experience nausea and/or vomiting or they can react with panic, anxiety or paranoia. Mixing marijuana with alcohol can increase the risk of vulnerable people experiencing psychotic symptoms.There is some evidence to support that having alcohol in your blood causes a faster absorption of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana that causes intoxication). This can lead to the marijuana having a much stronger effect than it would normally have and could result in ‘greening out’.Greening out is a term commonly referred to in a situation where people feel sick after smoking marijuana. They can go pale and sweaty, feel dizzy, nauseous and may even start vomiting. They usually feel they have to lie down straight away.It appears that this is more likely to happen if a person has been drinking alcohol before smoking marijuana rather than the other way around.
(0)>>will still remain a Schedule l .All drugs, both legal and illegal, are listed in various categories known as schedules, placed in Schedule I, are the most restrictive. Schedule I also includes heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.Drugs listed in Schedule II include some illegal substances, including cocaine, but also such legal (though carefully controlled) drugs such as Demerol, Vicodin, Ritalin, and OxyContin. Most prescription drugs with a lower potential for abuse are in Schedules III to V — the higher the number, the fewer the restrictions.(1.1)>>incoming administration in Washington D.C. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to have changed her mind when it comes to marijuana policy, according to National Journal. Clinton had previously expressed that she did not want marijuana decriminalized, but thought research ought to be done into its benefits. On Tuesday, she appeared to be more acquiescent to a change in the law. Clinton called for more research to be done, without doubting the medical benefits. Hillary stopped short of making an endorsement, saying, “I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet.”When she came to the issue of whether it should be legal for adults to use, Clinton said that states like Colorado and Washington have already reformed and that they are “laboratories of democracy.” Clinton claims to be holding out on forming her opinion until she has the evidence from the two states. Her change of heart mirrors that of the Democratic Party, which, as of late, has become more amenable to the case for making marijuana legal for adults to use, medically or otherwise.
(1.2)>>Opioids. Medications that fall within this class include hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (e.g., Kadian, Avinza), codeine, and related drugs. Hydrocodone products are the most commonly prescribed for a variety of painful conditions, including dental and injury-related pain.Morphine is often used before and after surgical procedures to alleviate severe pain. Codeine, on the other hand, is often prescribed for mild pain. In addition to their pain relieving properties, some of these drugs—codeine and diphenoxylate (Lomotil) for example—can be used to relieve coughs and severe diarrhea. According to a 2015 National Bureau of Economic Research study, “States permitting medical marijuana dispensaries experience a relative decrease in both opioid addictions and opioid overdose deaths compared to states that do not.”Separate studies also find that cannabis is associated with better treatment outcomes in opioid-dependent subjects. Writing this year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, researchers at Columbia University reported a “beneficial effect of marijuana smoking on treatment retention.”They added, “Participants who smoked marijuana had less difficulty with sleep and anxiety and were more likely to remain in treatment as compared to those who were not using marijuana.”Opioids were responsible for over 2,000 deaths in New England over the last year, while cannabis is incapable of causing death by overdose. Politicians should welcome the opportunity to bring necessary and long-overdue regulatory controls to the marijuana market. (2)>>But for Big Pharma and Big Tobacco .The crusaders against weed constitute a long list of suspiciously self-interested folks.Lobbyists work hard to secure for police departments millions of dollars in federal grants towards eradicating weed. Pharmaceutical companies compensate leading anti-marijuana researchers in order to keep their customers on painkillers over cannabis, which is cheaper. The prison-industrial complex would like to keep making money on building more prisons to fill with non-violent grass-smokers.The alcohol and beer industries have also lobbied for years to keep marijuana illegal because they fear the competition that legalized weed would bring. Howard Wooldridge, an anti-drug war activist and retired cop told the online publication Republic Report: “Marijuana and alcohol compete right today as a product to take the edge off the day at six o’clock.” (3)>>PROBLEMS. Using alcohol and marijuana at the same time is often referred to as "cross fading." Some people will mix the two because they enjoy the unique high it gives them. For others, they are already so intoxicated with alcohol that they are no longer making rational decisions. To them, taking a toke of a joint seems like a good idea at the time, although some may regret it later. When people smoke marijuana and drink alcohol at the same time they can experience nausea and/or vomiting or they can react with panic, anxiety or paranoia. Mixing marijuana with alcohol can increase the risk of vulnerable people experiencing psychotic symptoms.There is some evidence to support that having alcohol in your blood causes a faster absorption of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana that causes intoxication). This can lead to the marijuana having a much stronger effect than it would normally have and could result in ‘greening out’.Greening out is a term commonly referred to in a situation where people feel sick after smoking marijuana. They can go pale and sweaty, feel dizzy, nauseous and may even start vomiting. They usually feel they have to lie down straight away.It appears that this is more likely to happen if a person has been drinking alcohol before smoking marijuana rather than the other way around.
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