Pubdate: Fri, 12 Aug 2016
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248

POT POLICIES MIRED IN THE '70S

The federal government has for years employed a bizarre circular 
logic when it comes to marijuana.

Officially deemed to have a high potential for abuse and no currently 
accepted medical application, marijuana is listed by the Drug 
Enforcement Administration as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled 
Substances Act - on a par with heroin and LSD. Yet that very listing 
has severely limited the research that could settle the question of 
whether marijuana does indeed have therapeutic value, as attested to 
by countless glaucoma sufferers, nauseated cancer patients and a raft 
of other ailing people and their physicians who report anecdotally 
that marijuana eases suffering.

On Thursday, the DEA again rejected requests that it relist marijuana 
as a Schedule II drug (or lower), a major disappointment for those 
seeking looser controls.

As long as marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug, researchers face 
stiff controls that limit legal access, even for study purposes.

But the DEA also announced Thursday that it would expand the number 
of facilities authorized to grow cannabis for distribution to 
government-approved researchers.

Though the latter move is heartening, it is too little and too long in coming.

Last year, just eight researchers received samples from the sole 
government-approved cannabis farm at the University of Mississippi. 
Increasing the supply and variety of research-ready marijuana could 
allow for more and broader studies.

But the government should also commit to easing the approval process 
for scientists seeking to do the research needed to properly evaluate 
marijuana.

As it is, the federal government lags far behind the American people 
and many state governments when it comes to marijuana.

A Gallup poll last year found 58% of respondents support some level 
of legalization. Support was higher among younger survey-takers than 
among seniors, suggesting that the political winds behind 
legalization will increase.

Meanwhile, half of the states now allow medical marijuana despite the 
federal ban, and after November, as many as 10 states could allow 
some level of recreational use. That sets up a legal conflict between 
state and federal laws, which means that people growing and selling 
with the blessing of their state could face federal prosecution under 
a less marijuana-friendly administration than that of President Obama.

This is a different kind of reefer madness.

The DEA could have reclassified marijuana so that it could be treated 
like a prescription drug - subject to FDA oversight - for patients 
for whom it provides benefits.

Instead, the DEA opted to keep its policies mired in the 1970s.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom