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Reuters
Supporters of medical marijuana may have some evidence to back up their claims of its health benefits, but not enough to overrule the U.S. government's judgment that the drug should be tightly controlled, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
The ruling means the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration can keep marijuana on its list of the most dangerous, tightly controlled drugs, alongside heroin.
Medical marijuana supporters sued over the DEA's classification in 2011, and they hoped the suit would build on victories at the ballot box in states such as Colorado and Washington.
But the challengers, including a disabled veteran from Virginia, failed to show convincingly that marijuana has an effective, accepted and safe medical use, said the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C.
Without further scientific evidence, the court must defer to the DEA, wrote Judge Harry Edwards for a 2-1 majority. The third judge also sided with the DEA but for a different reason, finding that none of the challengers had a right to sue.
Since 1970, the U.S. government has classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a category it reserves for drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
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While it may be legally correct, it is a bad decision. It will be for congress to order the reclassification, which it should. Mind you, I neither use nor advocate the use of marijuana or other drugs. Rather I note that pot is no worse than alcohol. Keeping it as a Schedule 1 is pointy headed, peanut brained and just plain stupid!
I can guarantee you from personal experience (I take care of a lady who's paralyzed from the neck down with MS) that it has medical benefits -- it's the only thing that relieves her pain and discomfort and allows her to get a decent night's sleep. The only reason that the benefits are "hazy" to our government, is that nobody can study it properly, or even collect anecdotal reports, without being terrorized with the prospect of time in the slammer.
And it's definitely safer than tobacco and alcohol, both for the consumer and for everyone else in the environment.
And even if someone just wants to get high, well, what business is it of the government's? I'm talking about adults, not children, who can make their own decisions. I haven't smoked in over 40 years, but I did manage to graduate magna cum laude from an Ivy League school, in physics, stoned a lot of the time.
Oh, I forgot. Legalizing it would cut into the profits of the drug industry, the tobacco industry, the alcohol industry, the prison industry... It'd mean police could defend us against real criminals instead of wasting their time on this stupid war on drugs.
The arrest and detaining of someone smoking pot is much worse for the individual than the pot could ever be.
The punishment is much worse than the crime.
I still am amazed that our broke government dosent want new tax revenues that would come with making pot legal.
The brain disease that causes bipolar disorder causes atrophy of the brain. A recent study found that bipolar patients who smoked pot regularly had more neural connections than those who smoke occassionally.
Hazy? Who writes these article titles?!
It's not the DEA's place to demand "tests". That's the job of the FDA. Do they believe people undergoing chemotherapy are going to start making up stories about medical marijuana just so they can go out and party? This is ridiculous. Who's really funding these justices and the DEA on the sly?
I only discovered two years ago that I have an adrenal adenoma, but I have lived for 20 years with this disease. It is a non cancerous adrenal tumor, that causes "Conn's syndrome." No blood pressure medications kept my blood pressure down, but cannabis has. The doctors did not believe me, until I found a study on pubmed that found that endocannabinoids (which marijuana mimics), lower levels of the hormone aldosterone, reducing blood pressure.A description of this study can be found here: put this paper together to let everyone know about how beneficial medical marijuana can be. Without it, my blood pressure quickly rises to 200/130, and no blood pressure medications will bring it down. It literally saves my life everyday, and this study explains why. This study proves that the recent ruling that refused to remove Marijuana from Schedule I is bogus.
I only discovered two years ago that I have an adrenal adenoma, but I have lived for 20 years with this disease. It is a non cancerous adrenal tumor, that causes "Conn's syndrome." No blood pressure medications kept my blood pressure down, but cannabis has. The doctors did not believe me, until I found a study on pubmed that found that endocannabinoids (which marijuana mimics), lower levels of the hormone aldosterone, reducing blood pressure.A description of this study can be found by going to scribd and typing in "Absolute Proof of Marijuanas Critical Medical Value in the Treatment of Conns Syndrome " I put this paper together to let everyone know about how beneficial medical marijuana can be. Without it, my blood pressure quickly rises to 200/130, and no blood pressure medications will bring it down. It literally saves my life everyday, and this study explains why. This study proves that the recent ruling that refused to remove Marijuana from Schedule I is bogus.
scientific evidence???? How about 18 states that have passed medical marijuana laws and 2 states that legalized it for recreational use?? Surely ASA knew about this going into Supreme court...but why that wasn't their argument in front of the Supreme court??? I don't know. Maybe because this was another attempt by some greedy people who really don't want it rescheduled to strengthen DEA's stand against marijuana. How do I know it wasn't brought up in court?? Simple...if the supreme court says there is no evidence of marijuana having medicinal values while 18 states passed MEDICAL marijuana laws, then that means "somebody" (ASA) didn't bring it up. http://420college.org
Its a freedom issue. If someone says that pot smoking helps them with something,why not let them use it. I think it isnt any worse than beer or cigarettes. All the legal medicines have at least a dozen warnings come with the pills.I think someone smoking a few pot cigarettes is better off than all the bad things ive heard about people damaging their liver or kidneys with legal pills.
I think they should let us use it for recreational use, like beer or cigarettes. Okay, pack it, tax it, regulate it. Whatever. Maybe grind it into a pill. Seems like a waist though, it does have a rather nice aroma.
I don't see anything wrong with pemitting one house plant per household. Kinda like the way you can brew small batches of beer or wine. There's nothing medical about it. It's just fun. Let us have it for that reason.
The only thing I see wrong with mary jane, would be the use of it by teenagers. I don't think it's a wise choice to use when the brain is still growing, learning, and making life long choices.
Other than that, party and let party.