Tell me again. Why is Marijuana illegal? 10/2/03 Note: for historical background on why marijuana is illegal, go to Why is Marijuana Illegal? Via NORML today: One-Third Of Docs Back Prescription Cannabis, Survey Says (pdf) Wellington, New Zealand: One out of three New Zealand doctors say they would prescribe medicinal marijuana if it were legal to do so, according to a random survey of 500 doctors conducted by the national Green Party. Among physicians who reported their knowledge of medicinal cannabis as "high," 42 percent backed prescribing marijuana. "The more knowledge a doctor holds, the more favorable their opinion of medicinal cannabis is," the survey noted. Cannabinoids Modulate Epileptic Seizures, Study Says Administration of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, "completely abolished" spontaneous seizures in an animal model of epilepsy, according to findings published this week in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. FDA Grants "Fast Track" Status To Pot-Like Drug For Head Trauma Iselin, NJ: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review the efficacy of the synthetic marijuana derivative Dexanabinol for the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on an accelerated basis, the Pharmos pharmaceutical company announced this week. The FDA grants so-called "fast track" status to drugs intended to treat life-threatening conditions for which no approved therapies exist. ... and that's just this week. [Note that the FDA will fast-track the last one -- that's only because a pharmaceutical company will be studying a derivative (which means that they can eventually patent it, sell it at high prices, while keeping marijuana (which makes no money for drug companies) illegal.)] Let's take a look at the federal law. Marijuana law is based on the Controlled Substances Act, which classifies certain drugs in various schedules based on how dangerous they are. Schedule 1 is for: Drugs with high abuse potential and no accepted medical use in the United States. Included in this category are such horrific drugs as heroin and marijuana. It is because, and only because, marijuana is in Schedule 1 that the federal government can override state medical marijuana laws. Now these schedules can be changed. And you know who can do it? The DEA. Who depends on demonizing marijuana to maintain their budget levels? The DEA. However, if there is evidence that a drug no longer fits within the classification the DEA is required to change the classification. Break it down. "...high abuse potential..." OK, maybe there are hordes of severely addicted marijuana users running around destroying themselves. Let's see what the government has to say: Although few users of marijuana develop dependence, some do. But they appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol and nicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on other drugs." (National Institute of Medicine (IOM). Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. Washington DC, 1999.) So how can the DEA claim that there's a high potential for abuse? Here's their logic... Marijuana is illegal (because it has a high potential for abuse). People who use an illegal drug are abusing it by definition (theirs). Lots of people use marijuana. Therefore, there is a high potential for abuse and it should remain illegal. I kid you not. How about the other part. "...no accepted medical use in the United States." Read it again. "no accepted medical use..." How do they get around this one? After all, nine states have passed medical marijuana laws, countless studies have proven its effectiveness (way too much to detail here -- while several years old, Common Sense for Drug Policy has a comprehensive set of pages on medical marijuana science), and the federal government has for decades supplied a limited group of patients with medical pot [Note: George McMahon, one of the government's medical marijuana patients has just co-authored a book called "Prescription Pot."] The DEA simply chooses to ignore scientific evidence (The head of the DEA even claims not to have read any of it). They claim that it's all a lie, and that the "right kind of study" has never been done. Since the DEA controls what marijuana studies can be done, they also suppress research, and have refused to even study the patients that they supply with medical pot! Soon. Someday soon, Congress or the Courts will have to step in and take away the power of the DEA to ignore the sick and dying. Congress or the Courts will have to step in to stop the DEA from trampling the rights of individuals and the states. The people will have to rise up and say that we're no longer willing to pay to have our government ignore scientific fact. That day will come. Write or call your senators and representatives now. [For more excellent information on the facts of marijuana, get "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts."]