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Senate Committee Slams MJ's Federal Classification
Posted by CN Staff on July 03, 2018 at 14:56:29 PT
By Tom Angell, Contributor
Source: Forbes
Washington, D.C. -- A key U.S. Senate committee says that marijuana's current federal classification blocks scientific research on its effects — something that legalization advocates have long argued."The Committee is concerned that restrictions associated with Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act effectively limit the amount and type of research that can be conducted on certain Schedule 1 drugs, especially marijuana or its component chemicals and certain synthetic drugs," the Senate Appropriations Committee wrote in a new report under the headline, "Barriers to Research."
"At a time when we need as much information as possible about these drugs, we should be lowering regulatory and other barriers to conducting this research."Schedule I is the most restrictive category under federal law, and is supposed to be reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no medical value. Researchers wishing to study substances classified there must overcome procedural hurdles that don't exist for other drugs.The Senate panel is directing the National Institute on Drug Abuse to "provide a short report on the barriers to research that result from the classification of drugs and compounds as Schedule 1 substances."The directive is part of a report attached to a bill to fund the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services for Fiscal Year 2019, approved by the committee last week.This isn't the first time the panel highlighted the problems federal law poses for cannabis researchers. The senators included similar language in last year's version of the annual report for the health agency funding bill.Curiously, the language slamming Schedule I's research roadblocks has been consistently requested by a group whose membership list contains some of the nation's leading anti-legalization advocates.But while the Senate committee has approved a number of marijuana reform amendments over time -- including measures last month to protect state medical cannabis laws from Justice Department interference and to increase military veterans' access to medical marijuana -- it also recently blocked a proposal to protect banks that work with marijuana businesses from advancing.And, it also included questionable comments about cannabis and driving, the involvement of Indian tribes in the marijuana industry and cultivation of cannabis on public lands in recent reports attached to other funding bills.In the new report attached to the health agency bill, the committee also seemed to express concerns about the growing number of states that are legalizing marijuana and the increasing availability of higher potency cannabis products."The Committee is concerned with the rapidly changing landscape regarding the recreational use of marijuana--the effects that the drug can have on brain development; addiction; the long-term health effects in both youth and older individuals," the senators wrote. "The Committee directs NIH to coordinate a multi-Institute approach to increase research related to the effect of increasing delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol levels on the human body as well as the effect of various delta-tetrahydrocannabinol levels on cognitive abilities that are required to, for example, operate motor vehicles."And, they want federal researchers to resume tests on cannabis seized by law enforcement."Without dedicated funding for this activity, the number of analyzed seized samples has plummeted, meaning that available data is no longer current or robust," the report says. "The Committee believes that such research, along with analysis of marijuana and marijuana-derived products sold commercially in dispensaries or online, is essential for informing substance misuse and addiction prevention efforts, public health policy, and law enforcement tactics across the Federal Government.""The Committee continues to direct NIDA to coordinate efforts with the DEA and other law enforcement agencies to monitor Schedule I marijuana and marijuana-derived products."But despite the seeming concern about the effect of state legalization, the panel's criticism of Schedule I's roadblocks to marijuana research provides more momentum to the effort to reclassify cannabis under federal law.Tom Angell publishes Marijuana Moment news and founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority. Source: Forbes Magazine (US)Author: Tom Angell, ContributorPublished: July 3, 2018Copyright: 2018 Forbes Inc.Contact: readers forbes.comWebsite: http://www.forbes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/fygHMJaMCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by Oleg the Tumor on July 05, 2018 at 06:44:03 PT
Choose One: "The Truth" or Plurality
You can champion one or the other, but not both.The problem with Cannabis Hemp, from the bankster/ignoid perspective, is that it can be grown anywhere in the world and priced in the local currency. Oil, however, must be quoted in US Dollars ONLY. They call this the Reserve Currency. In case it has not occurred to you yet, Money is for Rich People, and only we can print Dollars. How cool is that? If you're rich, that is.The record shows that Cannabis Hemp was Taxed first. Once they realized that they had the votes to pass that bill, prohibition was inevitable. Big Oil didn't want it. Neither did Big Paper, Pharma, Textiles or the U S Narcotics Squads and good ol' Harry Angslinger, who needed to keep his thousands of agents busy, now that Prohibition was over. The Rabid Dogs of War needed another Bone and Cannabis fit the Bill Perfectly. Anyone who has not read "The Elkhorn Manifesto" should do so immediately! "What does Hitler and Hemp have in common? WWII, that's what!"Now that we must move forward to renewables, how will they ever let go of what they have been holding down all these years in order to move on?
"We the Investors" decided against Progress.
They are still "riding the Tiger" and they're hanging on tight, but . . .
Now What?
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Comment #4 posted by Soup Herb on July 04, 2018 at 00:07:16 PT:
It's About Time
The Feds recognize the 1936 Cannabis prohibition and obstruction law...
Now lets see them do something about this horrible ideal of how bad cannabis really ISN'T!!!!!!
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on July 03, 2018 at 19:15:00 PT
How times have changed.
We've gone from CAGE THEM 1ST AND DON'T ASK QUESTIONS LATER to, now their arguing, ARGUING! that the plant should be DE-regulated.Music to the ears...But again people are not waiting on the ignoids to come to their senses... & THAT'S LIKELY PART OF THEIR reasonING.Citizens are using the God-given plant whether or not A key U.S. Senate committee gives their blessing.AND NOBODY SHOULD WAIT FOR ANY "key us senate committee ignoid!!!s
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on July 03, 2018 at 19:14:44 PT
It's very distressing and disturbing to realize
That our Federal government doesn't have the leadership or representation that can lead the nation out of this dreadful quagmire that is the Presidential legacy of Richard M. Nixon.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on July 03, 2018 at 18:00:27 PT
Yeah, and let's not forget the gov't patent on
the neuro-protective properties of Cannabinoids...I call this the gov't speaking out of both sides of it's mouth, so to speak...It is high time for science and the truth, too many lives and too much suffering at stake here...Please!
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