Although the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced earlier this year that it would reveal its decision on whether to downgrade the Schedule I listing of cannabis within the first half of 2016, it appears that Uncle Sam’s leading dope henchmen are still at the drawing board—reportedly dissecting the plant in an attempt to determine which compounds may be important for medical use and which ones must remain classified as a public menace.
On Tuesday, DEA spokesperson Russ Baer told the Cannabist that while the agency was not yet prepared to make a determination on rescheduling cannabis, it was in the “final stages” of its eight-factor evaluation process, suggesting that a decision, whatever that might be, is well within reach. However, Baer refused to say when the cannabis community could expect the news.
“I can’t give you a time frame as to when we may announce a decision,” he said. “We’re closer than we were a month ago. It’s a very deliberate process.”
What is known is that the DEA has received “scientific and medical evaluations” along with a scheduling recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services. A letter dated April 4, 2016 indicates that the agency has met with officials with the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse to assist in the rescheduling debate.
Yet, Baer would not give any indication as to whether those recommendations were in favor of a reschedule or if all of the noise we’ve been hearing on this issue is simply the product of a long con.
All of the wild-eyed hope for a marijuana reschedule really heated up this year when the DEA fired off a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren in April, suggesting that the agency’s plan was to make a rescheduling announcement “in the first half of 2016.” Of course, confusion surrounding the implications of the DEA’s agenda quickly produced a number of ridiculous reports implying that marijuana was soon to be made legal in every state across the nation. This is far from true.
As it stands, marijuana is classified a Schedule I, dangerous drug under the confines of the Controlled Substances Act. In the eyes of the federal government, this means that anything derived from the cannabis plant has no medicinal value and a high potential for abuse. But a schedule downgrade would make some modest changes to Uncle Sam’s hammer-fisted attitude toward the herb—opening up the plant to be considered as having some worth in the scope of modern medicine.
Yet, unfortunately, it does not sound like the DEA—or the rest of the agencies with their hands in the rescheduling decision—are interested in loosening the restrictions for the entire plant.
Last month, Baer told aNewDomain that the DEA and other governmental agencies were struggling with the cannabis debate because they were still trying to “identify the parts of the plant that might have benefit, and separating out (the beneficial) components and distinguishing which “aren’t beneficial or harmful.”
Therefore, it is conceivable that if and when the DEA’s decision is finally made public, it will be somewhat of a disappointment—possibly only coming with a reschedule for non-intoxicating compounds like cannabidiol (CBD), while leaving our good friend tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the ranks of killer substances like heroin.
What is important to understand is that even if the DEA unleashes the cannabis plant, in its full form, very little will change for the average stoner or medical marijuana patient. A recent report from the Brookings Institution indicates that a decision to make marijuana a Schedule II drug would not have any impact on the medical marijuana industry, nor would it lead to national drug store chains, like CVS and Walgreens, stocking their shelves with cannabis products.
What’s more, as Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML pointed out in his latest analysis, rescheduling cannabis will not even make the herb that much more “accessible for clinical study.”
“These goals can only be accomplished by federally descheduling cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco, thus providing states the power to establish their own marijuana policies free from federal intrusion,” Armentano wrote. “If the DEA fails to take this opportunity to take such action, then it is incumbent that Congress does so posthaste.”
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We now know what, "the first half of 2016″, means in DEA speak. We are about to know what they mean by, “sometime soon”. Here's a slippery one: Chasing around private citizens sneaking cannabis tinctures into their bags “just isn’t a priority right now."
Uh-huh. I have no doubt it's a "deliberate" process. Every single time the DEA has arbitrarily and capriciously ignored the piles of mounting evidence justifying reclassifying cannabis, opting instead to maintain its inappropriate place in Schedule 1, they have done so quite deliberately.
Everything the DEA does concerning cannabis is absolutely DELIBERATE. They deliberately hold cannabis to an unbelievably ridiculous standard while allowing other significantly more dangerous drugs -- legal drugs -- to slowly drown the public. That's why overdoses from prescription medications have become the #1 cause of death due to injury in the United States, outpacing both GSW's and traffic fatalities.
If you need convincing of how the DEA has DELIBERATELY blocked and hampered any/all cannabis research (research that would prove cannabis is both safe and medically efficacious) from happening, then consider the story of Dr. Lyle Craker. In 2001, Dr. Craker wanted to obtain a license from the DEA to produce cannabis for MAPS research, so he applied. The DEA used petty stall-tactics for over a year before they even began to *consider* Dr. Craker's application in 2002. Dr. Craker's application was still unanswered by the DEA in 2004, so Dr. Craker sued them for indefinitely delaying it, and the DEA responded by rejecting his application. So Dr. Craker sued the DEA *again*, requesting an Administrative Hearing, which he was granted. In 2007, after two years of giving evidence, Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bittner issued an 87-page opinion recommending that Dr. Craker's application be GRANTED. The DEA ignored the ruling until 2009, when Michelle Leonhart rejected the recommendation. Dr. Craker immediately sought reconsideration, which Leonhart *again* rejected two years later in 2011. Dr. Craker tried appealing this rejection in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld Leonhart's rejection in 2013.
The DEA put Dr. Craker through twelve years of bitter legal struggle simply because he wanted to legally produce cannabis for clinical research. No other Schedule 1 substance has ever been subject to such staunch, abhorrent obstruction and delay. I can assure you, every single obstacle they placed in Dr. Craker's path was DELIBERATE.
They need to DESCHEDULE, but there's no way the DEA will do something logical and moral.
They have their jobs to think about.
It's understandable.
What would you rather do, engage violent criminals who are a
danger to society or chase people growing plants?
It is important to keep cannabis illegal so that voters continue to support Democrats - the only party that will do something about prohibition - eventually.
Conspiracy theory that is actually true. And why Hillary just might beat trump in November despite the fact she is a felonious crook. Chris krispy kreme Christy also did trump no favors by latching onto him like a ravenous squirrel after Republican voters gave Christy the middle finger. Some fat pigs just don't get it that they are hated and then bring down others as well rather than just retire in shame.
This is absolute nonsense. Hillary has never done anything to repeal prohibition despite many opportunities; in fact she has a long history of taking bribes from the unions and corporations which profit from prohibition.
https://theintercept.com/2015/07/23/private-prison-lobbyists-raising-cash-hillary-clinton/
Christie is furious that Trump would not take him as a running mate - clearly a wise decision and a good signal to the party of his intentions.
What is this DEA you speak of? I don't need a government agency to tell me whether or not it's okay to smoke a plant.
The DEA,
you know, the guys who party with cartel strippers, shake down tourist's with cash and 'confiscate' it even without charging them, help their drug dealing buddies in Mexico with weapons of war AND get paid $7 Million A DAY by me and YOU to do it!
THAT DEA.
The fact that cannabis isn’t descheduled yet and the neurotoxin alcohol is advertised everywhere shows their fatuity.
http://planet.infowars.com/uncategorized/alcohol-vs-cannabis
Really dude? haha Fatuity? (foolish or stupid). Here's another new word to learn:
In 1988, the DEA's own administrative law judge said it would be "unreasonable, arbitrary and CAPRICIOUS (odd notion) for the DEA to stand between suffering Americans and the medical benefits of cannabis".
That's right folks, in 1988, Judge Francis Young, the DEA's own law judge, recommended removal from class 1, only to be ignored.
Before that, in 1972, Richard Nixon's "National Commission on Marijuana" recommended removal from class 1 AND decriminalizing cannabis, only to be ignored.
The most amazing fact:
WE PAY THE DEA 7 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY TO LIE TO US!
$7,000,000.00 Per Day.
Congress doesn't do shit "posthaste."
Oh come the f#ck on and just legalize it!
They will just make the decision to keep it the same as it's always been.
Deschedule Cannabis not reschedule. The US Govt cannot ignore Israel's legal medical cannabis program and how well it works. Don't ever quit on cannabis, it's your health. The hypocrites and fraud will learn someday Cannabis is not dope, it's everything from rope to hope.