Federal Government Rules Marijuana Has No Accepted Medical Purpose

The federal government ruled on Friday that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain in the same class of drugs as heroin.

The decision comes nearly nine years after marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify the drug to take into account the growing body of research conducted across the globe that proves it's effective in treating certain diseases, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The paper spoke to advocates who criticized the ruling but are pleased that the government has finally responded, which allows them to appeal to the federal courts.

In May several medical marijuana advocacy groups under the name Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis filed a lawsuit insisting that the DEA finally attend to the 9-year-old request, reports LAist.

Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access told the Times, he was not surprised by the decision, which came shortly after the Obama administration announced it would not tolerate large-scale commercial marijuana growing operations.

It is clearly motivated by a political decision that is anti-marijuana," he said. He noted that studies demonstrate pot has beneficial effects, including appetite stimulation for people undergoing chemotherapy. "One of the things people say about marijuana is that it gives you the munchies and the truth is that it does, and for some people that's a very positive thing.

The Times also noted, this is the third time that petitions to reclassify marijuana have been denied. The first was filed in 1972 and denied 17 years later. The second was filed in 1995 and denied in 2001. Both decisions were appealed, but the courts sided with the federal government.

California and many other states have legalized marijuana for medicinal reasons and a push to legalize it in general is expected to appear on the 2012 ballot in California as Proposition 19, writes LAist.

Comments

[George Garros]

08:01 PM on 07/25/2011

Unbelievable. And yet we still allow countless fast-food restaurants to open business in low income areas which has single handedly facilitated the rise in obesity and diabetes in America.

Since when do chemo patients eat a Big Mac to soothe their pain and nausea? This is typical bureaucracy, motivated by politics, completely ignorant to furthering the greater good.

[nadineparker]

04:22 PM on 07/25/2011

I'm an old hippie and I have never been able to figure out why, of all the really harmful drugs out there - cocaine, heroin, meth, etc. - don't seem to be as important to "wipe out" as marijuana. I*'ve never been able to figure out why they are all so damn afraid of pot.

[elNussarino]

05:43 PM on 07/25/2011

60 years of propaganda can do more harm than you think.

[coolrayfruge]

12:23 AM on 07/20/2011

As they debate goes on, wither to or not raise the debt ceiling.
As the feds continue to spend a Trillion dollar's in tax payer's money on their expensive osing "War on Drugs"
Spending tax payer dollars on incarcerating non -violent American citizens as criminals for growing , smoking and selling Marijuana .
Even when they try to do it legally.
The Feds look for ways to arrest them.
Most Americans are turning to growing as a way to survive and get ahead in this jobless economy.
All the feds are doing is Infringing on the peoples "Freedom of choice , to choose for themselves.
While maybe this is profitable for them and the prison system.
Its costing the tax payers allot of money.
Resulting in having programs that are needed cut.
Like Medicare ,social security.,schooling, housing,food and other needs of the people.

[Arleneuc]

09:09 PM on 07/19/2011

Scarpe Nike
Scarpe Nike Italia
economici scarpe Nike
Nike Vendita scarpe
scarpe Nike Store
Nike
Puma

[WHYMIND]

10:53 AM on 07/19/2011

More Proof Cannabinoids Kill Glioblastoma (brain cancer) Cells

Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 02:06 PM by BakedAtAMileHigh
(This is from a blog from Americans for Safe Access: the link is below.)

As a member of ASA’s Medical & Scientific Advisory Board, I’ve been actively engaged in pursuing further evidence of the medical efficacy of cannabis-based medicine. Some of this work occurred while I was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI), and yesterday the findings of that work were published by the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. With this study, we have shown that cannabis compounds can work together to inhibit glioblastoma (GBM), one of the nastiest and most aggressive of all brain cancers. GBM is the type of brain cancer that caused the recent death of Senator Ted Kennedy....

[wayne the pain]

09:28 PM on 07/15/2011

There seems to be clear evidence that Marijuana has chemical that do diminish pain. You would expect this from the Bush administration but we expected more from the "enlightened" Obama. It makes no sense politically either. Those that like this are likely conserative and not likely to vote for Obama. Those of us that oppose this are more liberal and likely inclined to vote for the President. For this and many other reasons I probably won't vote against him but I may not vote for him!

[blackreign]

09:26 PM on 07/15/2011

The Fed's definition of legitimate medicine:

- Cannot be free.
- Cannot be mostly or purely natural in composition.
- Cannot be easily produced.
- Must be taxable.
- Can only be prescribed by a doctor in said approved network.

[fumes]

09:21 PM on 07/14/2011

Mass psychosis in the US
How Big Pharma got Americans hooked on anti-psychotic drugs.
James Ridgeway Last Modified: 12 Jul 2011 06:20

Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and a leading critic of the Big Pharma, puts it more bluntly: "Psychiatrists are in the pocket of industry." Angell has pointed out that most of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of mental health clinicians, have ties to the drug industry. Likewise, a 2009 study showed that 18 out of 20 of the shrinks who wrote the American Psychiatric Association's most recent clinical guidelines for treating depression, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia had financial ties to drug companies.

"The use of psychoactive drugs - including both antidepressants and antipsychotics - has exploded...[yet] 'the tally of those who are disabled...increased nearly two and a half times."
Under the tutelage of Big Pharma, we are "simply expanding the criteria for mental illness so that nearly everyone has one." Fugh-Berman agrees: In the age of aggressive drug marketing, she says, "Psychiatric diagnoses have expanded to include many perfectly normal people."
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117313948379987.html

[Shaktas Na]

08:52 PM on 07/14/2011

The federal government wants to control the economy(i.e. the citizens wallets). MJ could potentially eliminate the big pharma industry and revitalize the farming industry with alternative use hemp crops.

If anyone had any idea how many strains of MJ there are(they are plants people they are not one size fits all) that could economically alleviate their medical conditions and improve the quality of their lives the monthly trips to the pharmacy would stop and they'd have cash in their pockets again.

People apparently never understand the issues of moderation and correct dosage. People don't take 12 aspirin to cure a cold. They use the correct dosage for their bodies.

Marijuana would put money in American citizens pockets and remove money from the rich CEOs. This government is deliberately choosing to poison its citizens. The stomach,liver, and endocrine damage caused by pain killers, anti-depressants, or mood altering meds are far more harmful and widespread than MJ. Then of course extra meds are needed to alleviate the symptoms that the first meds caused.(I.e. tylenol causes stomach upset so you additionally take pepto etc)

Even London has Sativex. Educate yourselves people. Save yourselves some cash.

[leftLibertarian]

07:45 PM on 07/14/2011

The government is run by thieves, liars, and fools.

[fumes]

12:09 PM on 07/14/2011

~BREAKING NEWS:

White House Slams Marijuana Legalization In New Report
By Steve Elliott Monday, July 11, 2011, at 12:20 pm

Neill Franklin, LEAP: "I cannot understand why they're dumping more money into arrests, punishment and prisons that the Bush administration ever did"
​"Who ever heard of curing a health problem with handcuffs?"
~ Neill Franklin, LEAP

On Monday the Obama Administration released its new National Drug Control Strategy for 2011 and, instead of coming through with its much-touted "shift" in drug control resources toward prevention and away from punishment, the document spends several pages disparaging the idea of legalizing and regulating substances like marijuana. The White House report goes on to slam the idea of medical marijuana specifically, even though many prominent medical organizations have pointed out that cannabis has medical value.
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/07/white_house_slams_marijuana_legalization_in_new_re.php
---------------------
it must be said:

O is an a$$

[jm26dream]

03:42 PM on 07/13/2011

Sick people whose pain would be decreased by marijuana, just need to suffer and shut up

[blackreign]

09:27 PM on 07/15/2011

And pay BigPharma for their painkillers with side effects.

[jm26dream]

03:42 PM on 07/13/2011

Marijuana overdoses kills 50 people every day

[Max Kogan]

04:15 PM on 07/13/2011

That is just not true.

[jm26dream]

04:27 PM on 07/13/2011

Yes it is, I wrote it online and that makes it true

[srooge]

02:47 AM on 07/13/2011

Good news for the drug cartels.

[james sokrak]

10:12 PM on 07/12/2011

then why does the US government have a patent on "Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants"? US Patent # 6630507

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507