Powerful Court Quietly Takes Marijuana Case That Could Shatter Federal Prohibition Laws

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/powerful-court-quietly-takes-marijuana-case-could-shatter-federal-prohibition-laws



Once again, medical-marijuana advocates are taking to the courts to eliminate the biggest barrier to legal use—the federal law that classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no valid medical use.

On Oct. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that usually handles cases involving government regulations, will hear oral arguments on Americans for Safe Access v. DEA . It will be the first time in almost 20 years that federal courts have considered the science of medical marijuana, says ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes.

Specifically, ASA, a California-based patient-advocacy group, is trying to get the Drug Enforcement Administration to move marijuana out of Schedule I, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970s category for drugs with “a high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and no “accepted level of safety for use under medical supervision.” Heroin, LSD, and PCP are also in Schedule I. Cocaine, methamphetamine and OxyContin are in Schedule II, legal for medical use but strongly restricted.

Two previous attempts to get the DEA to reschedule marijuana failed, but advocates believe there is enough new evidence to convince the courts. “There’s simply more science now,” says ASA chief counsel Joseph D. Elford. Since 2000, says Igor Grant of the University of California at San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, the center has done six studies that showed “efficacy for marijuana over a placebo” in relieving pain caused by peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage).

[ananda]

1. I live for the day when mj is legalized.

nt

[LittleGirl]

2. me too n/t

[4_TN_TITANS]

4. I hope I live for the day

My daughter who inherited my ADD turned into an all A student after she got my blessings to smoke all she wants. Her grades and ACT score are paying for her college next year.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. THAT is really interesting.

My husband has ADD and if he smokes it, he turns extremely paranoid so no smoka da ganja for him. I know there's different types of A.D.D. and I'm sure that explains the difference.

[Comrade Grumpy]

24. That could happen as early as November 6.

It's on the ballot in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

It appears likely to win in Colorado and Washington.

Then things will get interesting.

[porphyrian]

3. . n/t

[CrispyQ]

5. Re-legalize it!

K&R

[occupymybrain]

6. It's just silly to call Cannabis unsafe with supervision,

If this was true then we would have millions of problematic cases involving marijuana. We don't. Just imagine if the same amount of people used heroin then we would have problems. I think cannabis is scheduled 1 because it was popular in the sixties while the baby boomer where growing up and using a bunch of cannabis.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Not the 60's, the 30's.

There are many reasons why pot is illegal. It was a drug used by poor blacks & latinos. Hemp competed with other raw materials for things like fabric and paper. Harry Anslinger needed a cause round which to build a drug-enforcement empire.

In the 60's, for the most part, the draconian prison sentences of the previous decades were lightened up, at least in certain liberal enclaves. By 1970 or so, Madison, WI had a "probation-without-conviction" alternative for small-time, first-time users.

Then came the push-back.

[occupymybrain]

9. I understand what your saying

It is true that those things have been going on since Hearst and Andrew Melon. I was sort of talking about the 60's and the cultural break was alarming for the people because the drug was related with the Hispanic and blacks, same thing with the 30's except the 60's had overtones of true rebelliousness for the first time since the 20's or so. I do agree with you and I think we have to agree with each other. Do you think the push back came from fear of the white kids smoking it and the all out assault on the old American values. no doubt it started in the 30's.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. I think the Nixon people figured out (as had Johnson before him)

that all those Goddam kids out screwing up the war effort had one big vulnerability. They mostly smoked pot. If you couldn't bust them for demonstrating, you could sure as hell take their leaders out of action with pot busts.

I recall Ft. Hood, TX in '68. We had an anti-war coffee house called the Oleo Strut and a little mimeographed antiwar paper called the Fatigue Press. They nailed the founder/editor of the latter, Richard Peterson, with what they claimed was a small quantity of pot they vacuumed out of his pocket. The sample was so small it was "destroyed in analysis" so they had only the lab report, no actual physical evidence of possession, but this was military law, so I think he got a couple of years out of it. And of course the paper ceased production.

[Dustlawyer]

8. I suffer from small fiber sensory neuropathy, the most painful form of all neurapathies. I hurt

24/7/365. The nerves send false signals such as my feet being on fire, fire ants, electric shocks... The pain specialists implanted a neural stimulator and prescribe 12 hour morphine tablets, Lyrica, and Trammodal for the intense pain. Marijuana is the only thing that gives me total pain relief. I almost cried when for the 1st time in 25 years, I smoked pot (I have had this disease 8 years). Not hurting for awhile was something I thought I would never experience! The side effect of memory loss is the same as the other meds I take. The "munchies" are different, but I do not have the constipation, cramps, and the harm to my liver and kidneys. Give me an F'en break!

[warrior1]

10. Some of the down sides of completely legalize it for everyone.

There will be shortages and the cost will sky rocket, especially for the people who need it the most.

[Le Taz Hot]

12. I disagree.

It's too easily grown for free.

[randome]

14. That would depend on where you live and how much free time one has.

If marijuana is legalized, most people would not be growing their own. And for those who did, we would soon find other problems with that -such as contaminants from lawn care getting into the plants.

I think warrior1 is right. Prices would rise.

[Le Taz Hot]

15. Actually pot plants are pretty low maintenance.

Plant 'em. Put 'em out in the sun. Water 'em every day. That's pretty much it. I'm not sure to what "contaminants" you are referring. If you use organic methods on your garden/lawn there shouldn't be any pesticide residue -- assuming one is growing outdoors. If you're talking about cross-pollination, that's always a risk when one grown outdoors. If one is growing indoors there shouldn't be any contaminants if one is careful.

When dispensaries were so common (before the feds cracked down), the private growers (the ones not selling to dispensaries) actually lowered their prices because of the stiff competition. Then, when they did close down the dispensaries, pot became dirt cheap because there was so much of a glut in the market. I'm not sure what the prices are doing now -- I'm guessing they went back to what they were before the crackdown.

[randome]

19. Lawn care chemicals. Pesticides.

It would be inevitable that some contamination would occur. Maybe not enough to turn off people but I still maintain that most people would not be growing their own.

Even if it is easy to grow, there are a hell of a lot of people living in apartments. And most people just wouldn't bother, especially with organic methods. That's still too much trouble for most people to be concerned with.

[Webster Green]

29. Prices are down in CA.

You can get a pound of really nice outdoor buds for $1000 to $1200.

Ounces on the street go for $150 to $160.

[jackbenimble]

16. Some would, some wouldn't

same as gardening for food.

I don't use it, but if it were legal I might occasionally. Probably not enough to garden it. I gave up smoking cigarettes because they were bad for me. I have autoimmune hepatitis so I can't drink alcohol. Pills are not my thing, would also affect my liver, nor are they legal. So if I could use mj legally occasionally on a weekend to de-stress and unwind... sure, that would be great. Maybe someday.

[Comrade Grumpy]

25. Rising pot prices after legalization? I think not.

Kind of goes against the laws of economics.

If pot were legal, it would be as cheap to produce as tomatoes.

The problem for some is that it would be too cheap. Thus, legalization proposals typically include provisions for hefty taxes to keep prices "reasonable."

[n2doc]

17. Until RJ Reynolds et all stepped in

Don't you think big tobacco would jump at the chance to produce MJ?

[stopwastingmymoney]

18. I think it would be something like the market for beer

You'd have your coors and Budweiser, but you'd also have hundreds of microbrews

[cliffordu]

22. The tobacco companies copyrighted

names for smokable product back in the '80's IIRC.

[Comrade Grumpy]

27. I see the Northern California wine industry as a model.

Large, lower-quality mass production operations AND smaller boutique producers for the gourmet markets.

[Qutzupalotl]

21. Prohibition artificially inflates prices

due to the high risks of incarceration. Eliminate those barriers and supply will skyrocket, lowering prices. And the other poster is right, it is easily grown for very little cost, even indoors, even organically. It is a weed, after all.

[bhikkhu]

20. I was never for legalization before, but the Controlled Substances Act is ridiculously anti-science

and probably like most people by now, I know a few people who have benefited from light use dealing with medical or emotional issues. Having kids in school I worry about, and their friends, and all the behavioral problems that come with adolescence, and having seen plenty of drug problems in the lives of my friends, I nevertheless have to admit none of that really had or has anything to do with pot.

Next week I get my early voting ballot, and I'm voting for legalization in Oregon.

[musiclawyer]

23. A DC circuit favorable ruling would be nice

But is kind of irrelevant. The lawsuit we would welcome is the Feds suing WA and CO. That's. where the drug war ends

[Comrade Grumpy]

26. Deschedule, not reschedule!

Rescheduling would be beneficial for people claiming medicinal reasons for using.

I don't claim that, and I don't need a doctor to tell me when I can smoke pot.

[21 December 2012]

28. It'll never happen, and Judges are the frontline-cognizance

Marijuana is very very important to the U.S. Industrial Prison Complex' objective, to focus on a 'certain segment' of society to disproportionately incarcerate;


Legalization Pleading = an exercise in futility.

[Comrade Grumpy]

30. Get back to us after election day.

Washington state will have legalized, and probably Colorado, too. Maybe even Oregon.

Then it gets interesting...

[21 December 2012]

31. Yey, you're probably correct on those states...I was talking about the WashDC Court of Appeals

[Mnemosyne]

32. K&R