[ShiningSkull]

Non-enforcement of Controlled Substances Act
leaves medical marijuana issue unresolved

2:41 PM ET

Mark Kleiman [Professor of Public Policy, UCLA]: "The Justice Department will not pursue people using or selling cannabis in compliance with state "medical marijuana" laws, even though those activities remain forbidden by the Controlled Substances Act. That policy ends more than a decade of federal efforts to overturn state efforts to make cannabis available to patients. In effect, the Attorney General has decided that although the Federal government has the power (affirmed by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Raich) to enforce the CSA in such cases, prudence and comity argue that it should not use that power.

In states such as New Mexico and Rhode Island, which are attempting to establish well-controlled processes to get cannabis to patients, the announcement removes the specter of Federal intervention, and may even allow providers there to establish overt growing operations rather than buying supplies from what remains a completely illegal growing industry.

In California, where the legal status of the more than 1,000 "dispensaries" remains in dispute, it may be hard to figure out which activities are actually in full compliance with state law and therefore exempt from Federal enforcement actions under the new policy.

Neither "medical marijuana" advocates nor Federal officials seem to have any interest in handling this problem correctly, by doing the clinical research required to establish the safety and efficacy of some standardized cannabis product for some specified medical condition, thus making it a prescription drug and a Schedule II controlled substance, available by prescription and sold through pharmacies. The National Institute on Drug Abuse continues to use its legal monopoly on research cannabis to obstruct the necessary studies, and the advocates so far have not been willing to spend any fraction of the millions of dollars spent on litigation and the promotion of ballot initiatives to performing research abroad, where research cannabis is easily available.

Ironically, cannabis as a prescription drug would be much less available in California than it is today. If medical need could be met though ordinary pharmacies, there would be no justification for the proliferation of retail cannabis outlets. Actual prescriptions for the drug would be much harder to obtain than the transparently pretextual "recommendations" now being issued by the bushel to any "patient" with $75 and willing to say he is "anxious" and therefore needs cannabis for the treatment of anxiety."


JURIST - Hotline: Non-enforcement of Controlled Substances Act leaves medical marijuana issue unresolved


Partisan much, Mr. Kleiman?

[BrattonBasher]

I think he disparaged the Feds for blocking research.

[ShiningSkull]

Yeah, he's disparaging the Feds when he uses quotes around words like "patient" and "dispensary."

[BrattonBasher]

It is kinda funny he mentions "advocates" not funding research. He is an idiot.

[ShiningSkull]

Originally Posted by BrattonBasher

It is kinda funny he mentions "advocates" not funding research. He is an idiot.

I know, I thought that was funny, too.

I used to look up to UCLA; I didn't know they tolerated such sloppy thinking in a public policy officer.

[lwien]

Originally Posted by ShiningSkull

I used to look up to UCLA...

Great film and med schools.

[VooDoo Chile]

Originally Posted by lwien

Great film and med schools.

Their law school has a reputation for being one of the most progressive in the nation. Frankly, I'm pretty surprized by this article's contents. WTF.

[lwien]

"Neither "medical marijuana" advocates nor Federal officials seem to have any interest in handling this problem correctly, by doing the clinical research required to establish the safety and efficacy of some standardized cannabis product for some specified medical condition, thus making it a prescription drug and a Schedule II controlled substance, available by prescription and sold through pharmacies. The National Institute on Drug Abuse continues to use its legal monopoly on research cannabis to obstruct the necessary studies, and the advocates so far have not been willing to spend any fraction of the millions of dollars spent on litigation and the promotion of ballot initiatives to performing research abroad, where research cannabis is easily available."
-----Mark Kleiman

He does have a point.

[fizzer]

He's not really saying anything other than the obvious, which is that if marijuana was a "regular" drug it would have become a prescription medication via a much different process than has occurred. To me he's not disparaging MMJ so much as the forces which have kept it from being discussed and analyzed in an open and rational environment.

I do think that he's wrong about medical marijuana advocates not being interested in clinical research, though.

[VooDoo Chile]

Originally Posted by lwien

"Neither "medical marijuana" advocates nor Federal officials seem to have any interest in handling this problem correctly, by doing the clinical research required to establish the safety and efficacy of some standardized cannabis product for some specified medical condition, thus making it a prescription drug and a Schedule II controlled substance, available by prescription and sold through pharmacies. The National Institute on Drug Abuse continues to use its legal monopoly on research cannabis to obstruct the necessary studies, and the advocates so far have not been willing to spend any fraction of the millions of dollars spent on litigation and the promotion of ballot initiatives to performing research abroad, where research cannabis is easily available."
-----Mark Kleiman

He does have a point.

Well I don't see why he's making it sound like advocates are to blame for the lack of research funding. Most of that kinda research is done by the government via university grants. I remember just a few months ago a Boston University prof was denied funding for research into medical marijuana. It's not really a policy group like NORML's job to try and fund medical research.

[lwien]

He also put blame on the Feds, VooDoo.

And regarding NORML's job, a good argument could be made that they should help to try and fund medical research, if in fact, it would serve their purpose, which I think, it very well could.

[VooDoo Chile]

Originally Posted by lwien

He also put blame on the Feds, VooDoo.

And regarding NORML's job, a good argument could be made that they should help to try and fund medical research, if in fact, it would serve their purpose, which I think, it very well could.

Fair enough. I'm pretty sure their primary purpose revolves around policy litigation, but it wouldn't hurt them to broader their horizions.

Some day I hope to join them as a paralegal. I wonder if they'd let me work with just a B.A. and no certification?

[lwien]

Originally Posted by VooDoo Chile

Some day I hope to join them as a paralegal. I wonder if they'd let me work with just a B.A. and no certification?

Worth a shot. Go in there and ask them, and if they turn you down, whip out your sign.

[VooDoo Chile]

Originally Posted by lwien

Worth a shot. Go in there and ask them, and if they turn you down, whip out your sign.

LOL. Thanks for the encouragement! This doesn't end our feud though. I'm still out fer yer blood!!!!!!!!!!

[katzore]

I don't get why you people are being offended by this UCLA prof... It was completely NON-biased... Which i applaud. YA he gave the obvious, but that's only the obvious to us. It's great REAL info for other people. It truly is not our responsibility for research. The finger should be pointed at them. What bugs me the most is that the government is avoiding any real research by denying the funding...

[alleycat]

What an idiot. And as someone who has felt the sting of social stigma as a sufferer from anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and depression, I take issue with the fact that he dismisses this condition as just claiming to feel "anxious." I wonder if he'd have issues with my psychiatrist giving me prescriptions to Xanax and Ambien. She said I could take Xanax every day for years with no side effects. (This is horrible advice of course). Where is the outrage about this kind of practice by doctors?

[lwien]

Originally Posted by alleycat

What an idiot. And as someone who has felt the sting of social stigma as a sufferer from anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and depression, I take issue with the fact that he dismisses this condition as just claiming to feel "anxious."

You're taking this wayyyy to personal. He was just using this as an example of those that use an ailment that is really hard to disprove as a reason to get a MMJ rec.

Let me ask you a question. Out of all those that claim to have an anxiety disorder to get a rec, what percentage of those do you think REALLY has an anxiety disorder?

[ShiningSkull]

Originally Posted by lwien

You're taking this wayyyy to personal. He was just using this as an example of those that use an ailment that is really hard to disprove as a reason to get a MMJ rec.

Let me ask you a question. Out of all those that claim to have an anxiety disorder to get a rec, what percentage of those do you think REALLY has an anxiety disorder?

Why is it you consistently disparage other patients' disorders? Do you wish you were a cop or something?

[lwien]

Originally Posted by ShiningSkull

Why is it you consistently disparage other patients' disorders? Do you wish you were a cop or something?

Disparaging others disorders? I have done no such thing and suggesting that I consistently do this or have ever done it even once, in this post or in any other, is totally absurd.

Regarding this post, anxiety disorders are real, and they can be totally debilitating and in fact, could very well be served with an MMJ rec. But...............I would also venture to say that it is one of the most abused reasons for getting an MMJ rec by those that just want cannabis for recreational use.

Is that disparaging others who have an anxiety disorder as you have so myopically accused me of doing? Damn, SS, if you're gonna accuse me of doing something, at least accuse me of doing something I did.

[ShiningSkull]

Originally Posted by lwien

Let me ask you a question. Out of all those that claim to have an anxiety disorder to get a rec, what percentage of those do you think REALLY has an anxiety disorder?

You're intimating that a "percentage" of people who have anxiety disorder are lying about it.

You have inordinate interest in disclaiming the validity of other patients. Why don't you concentrate on the real adversaries of mmj, instead of defending them every chance you get.

[lwien]

Originally Posted by ShiningSkull

You're intimating that a "percentage" of people who have anxiety disorder are lying about it.

Intimating? Fuck, I'm not intimating at all. It's a fact.

Originally Posted by ShiningSkull

You have inordinate interest in disclaiming the validity of other patients. Why don't you concentrate on the real adversaries of mmj, instead of defending them every chance you get.

Why? Because in this particular instance, I feel that, to a pretty large extent, those that are trying to circumvent the system by lying about disorders so that they can get a rec, are themselves, a very real adversary to MMJ.

Here's the deal. I will not blindly defend or attack anything. If I see what I perceive to be a flaw in something, I'll call it out, and it matters not on what side of the coin they are on.

[katzore]

Calm down everyone! No need to have negative vibes...Honestly..Shinning Skull...you sound a bit defensive for no reason at all..What he is saying is in fact true...The HUGE amount of recr. users use anxiety as their "reason." That's because it's so easy. He wasn't disclaiming and specific individual. The OTHER people who get recs for recreational use do take advantage by saying something that cannot be proved.

[STEVE-O]

This thread is causing me anxiety !!!
Gonna go medicate now......soon I WILL FEEL BETTER !!