Pubdate: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK) Copyright: 2009 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc. Contact: http://newsminer.com/submit/letter_editor/ Website: http://newsminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764 Author: Craig Burnham RIGHT DIRECTION To the editor: On Feb. 25, Attorney General Eric Holder told a group of reporters "What Obama said during the campaign ... is now American policy." What was Eric Holder referring to? Raids against state licensed medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivators. The Drug Enforcement Agency has been going after these co-ops ever since states legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, with California being the main stage. What this means is that the DEA and other federal agencies will have to respect, and abide, by state law. But there is a bigger implication here. President Obama and Attorney General Holder are recognizing the medicinal value of marijuana. Currently, under the Controlled Substance Act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug. Schedule 1 drugs, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, "have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision." Some of the other drugs considered a Schedule 1 are cocaine, heroin and LSD. This should open the door for a national debate, and hopefully a policy change, when it comes to marijuana's classification as a Schedule 1. Marijuana has its medical purposes and can be used safely. Safe methods of using marijuana include ingestion and inhaling using a process known as vaporization. We can only hope that soon marijuana will be removed from its place as a Schedule 1, and will open the door to full legalization. Craig Burnham Healy - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin