DEA Ignores AMA’s New Policy
Last week’s announcement from the American Medical Association — calling for a federal review of marijuana’s legal status — has been well received in the media, reaching the pages of The Washington Post, LA Times, and other publications. One group that hasn’t got the message is the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is no surprise, as the DEA has been ignoring recommendations to research marijuana’s medical benefits for decades.
But this example is particularly egregious. On the DEA Web page “Exposing the Myth of Smoked Medical Marijuana,” the agency writes, “the American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled substance.” That statement directly contradicts the new policy that the AMA issued last week.
The DEA also has a contact page where you can call them out on this (likely) willful ignorance of recent news: http://www.justice.gov/dea/contactinfo.htm
Tagged with: AMA and DEA and Schedule I by the author
37 comments
Holy Smokes. What are they going to do now? The long standing direction of the AMA towards MMJ has now changed and delivered a tremendous blow to the continued prohibition of a flower. Prohibition ends where my skin begins.
Today’s announcement from the AMA, Amercian Medical Association, a group of doctors, is a significant blow not only to marijuana prohibitionist in the U.S. and Canada, but also to theDEA.
Millions of dollars, going to the DEA’s Budget are known to have been channeled to medical marijuana prohibition groups active in the United States and Canada. Medical Marijuana lobbyists now have one more MMJ endorsement to rely on.
Sound familiar Karen?
Rev.Sleezy
The Universal Life Church of the Holy Smokes
Potland, OR
How can Marinol(aka dronabinol) be a Schedual III drug but Cannabis (a natural mechanism used make to dronabinol(aka 9THC)) is Schedual I? If the FDA wants to keep their stance on this then they should conceed that EITHER A)THC is NOT the ingriedient in Cannabis that makes you “high” OR B)Cannabis is only as dangerous as a Schedual III drug
Here’s an idea why not let adult (over 21) American citizens buy a Yearly Federal License for $500 allowing 6 Mature Plants and up to 3oz in the privacy of their own home? Half can go to the DEA the other half can go to education and addiction therapy. Maybe if we just feed the beast some money it will quite down! After all their just worried about losing their jobs.
The DEA is also publishing similar inaccurate info at:
http://www.justthinktwice.com/factfiction/MarijuanaisMedicine.cfm
I believe that the DEA is legally required to post the updated and correct information on these pages, as opposed to simply deleting the inaccurate info. As a government agency, aren’t they required to issue corrections for their erroneous statements?
I think the people that make up the DEA have had way to much ego for way to long. These people believe they have the final word on the subject ( as opposed to the voting public), no matter what. People who align themselves with the prohibitionist faction are disturbingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany in that they believe anything can be accomplished through brute military force. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s prohibition of cannabis…their entire issue is control of the masses in the name of their almighty god, IGNORANCE and opening there mind to the truth just takes them entirely to far outside of their comfort zone. They’d be well advised to get with the program soon because our monster can beat up their monster with one hand tied behind it’s back!
BTW, aren’t nicotine and alcohol schedule 1 drugs by DEA and FDA definition?
So the AMA has not quite done the about face from that Dr./Lawyer who testified to Congress in 1937, “We know of no evidence that Marihuana is addictive or dangerous.”
Maybe it is the plant patents that Monsanto blazed the path for new strains of Medical pot with patents attached, seed control, and other licensing and general intangible agreements regarding business.
It’s about time this prohibition based upon racism and lies comes to an end, but just in case I’ll bang out that legal thriller crossed with a stoner buddy comedy starring Method Man. How can it fail? Oh, right…
I assume a request has been filed to correct the innaccurate information being presented on this government website?
Here’s some other corrections that need to be made:
“Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke.” —— this is only true if they add in the wrod “smoke” after marijuana… but as it is the statement is incorrect and there are absolutley no reference points to this information.
“Advocates have promoted the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions such as glaucoma. However, this is a good example of more effective medicines already available.” — doesn’t this statement say it all? It obviously says that there are medical uses BUT that there are “more effective medicines already available”. This is not what the CSA says… it simply asks if there ARE medical uses for treatment… it never says that they have to be the most effective treatment.
“THC was shown to be less effective than standard treatments in helping cancer patients regain lost appetites.” —- ONce again the concept of the most effective treatment versus simply BEING a treatment.
“Marijuana has no medical value that can’t be met more effectively by legal drugs.” —- Why can’t they understand that the CSA does not distinguish between the most effective treatments and the least effective treatments. It simply asks the question does this substance have medical use for treatment.
There are also other statements that would need further clarification… How can you talk about those arrested for crimes having used marijuana without the disclaimer that cannabis can be found in your system 4 weeks after use. Whose to say these crimes were committed after using marijuana and not three weeks prior? …. They talk about abuse and addiction statistics by describing that 200,000 american entered into substance abuse programs to deal specifically with marijuana, but they don’t quote the statistic of how many of those people were required to attend because of a plea agreement to keep their criminal record clean.
FINALLY:
WHY ARE ALL THEIR REFERENCES FROM 2001 AND BEFORE? – Didn’t the Department of Health and Human Services take out a patent on Cannabinoids in 2003?
WHY ARE THEY REFERENCING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE AND NOT THE ACTUAL STUDY FROM THE MAYO CLINIC?
Of the 12 references that the DEA gives only 2 are not from either from newspaper articles or the NIDA. Since the National Institute of Drug Abuse has a monetary incentive to keep marijuana illegal (boosts their funding) how can they be relied upon for accurate and unbiased information? Of the 2 “legitimate” sources… one was to describe the short term effects of marijuana use (no one disputes)… the second was to an article in “Addiction” that was from 1996 (funny thing is that that’s around the time the endocannabinoid system was discovered, so how much was really known about the immume system and cannabis at the time of the article)….
You can submit a tip to the DEA here:
http://www.justice.gov/dea/submit_tip_form.htm
my tip was:
The American Medical Association last week recommended that marijuana be taken off the schedule 1 list. My tip is for the DEA to follow that recommendation.
Thank you.
Right, because if there is an agency I want overseeing medicine approvals, it’s the DEA. This is unreal to read this. WHY IS THE DEA ALLOWED TO HAVE SAY IN WHAT IS AND IS NOT MEDICINE?!?! The DEA is apparently ‘above’ the FDA. Our country is so dumb and so f’d with crap like this being allowed to continue.
It’s proof that the DEA was never concerned about the health and safety of United States citizens. I was right all along. It was all about cannabis.
First, I would like to say that I do not have a problem with pharmaceutical companies trying to make a pill or mist out of cannabis. The reason why it doesn’t bother me, is that some people that can benefit from cannabis don’t want to smoke, vape, or cook it in food. They may prefer to administer by pill or mist.
I currently received a prescription for a Dronabinol(Marinol) and have yet to see if it helps with my chronic pain and nausea and other stomach issues. I would prefer the option to administer by vaporization or ingestion, but the current laws obviously restrict that (I live in AZ). Until those laws are changed I will have to succumb to what is legally viable (Marinol), despite three doctors recommendation to administer cannabis (in natural form) as an alleviation of my problems.
Until that time, I will be fighting side by side with everyone else to change these ludicrous laws! Hazaa!
What I gather from the recent AMA move is this: They want to “review” the categorization of MJ as a schedule I drug. They haven’t actually taken MJ off of the sched. I list, as far as I know. (If someone knows more, I yield to them.) So, until the AMA comes out and says that MJ has medical benefit, the DEA can still technically say that the AMA considers MJ to be of no legitimate use. (Think like a lawyer-spin-doctor-type.) What I believe the AMA was doing when they called for the review of MJ’s status as sched I, was putting out a hypothetical situation, just a feeler, really, to show people a direction they could move in the future, and they wanted to gauge people’s reactions to that idea. If anyone has not already sent encouragement to the AMA to continue moving in the direction they have indicated, they should probably do so.
OK, I’m on you side, which is why I read your blog… but you crossed a line in honesty. You accuse them of being willfully dishonest about this statement… however archive.org clearly shows that this information page was put together well before the new AMA decision. You can see the page here (this is the page on july of 2008), it is the exact same page.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080611172306/www.justice.gov/dea/ongoing/marijuana.html
Yes lets contact them and demand that they correct it, however we should not misrepresent the facts (leave that to them). The statement was true when that wrote it.
The truth is on our side. The DEA lies all the time, we don’t need to make things up for sake of drama.
The DEA – all powerful, answers to no one. Or are they. What are we overlooking?
The cynic in me believes that the only reason the AMA is coming out with this now is because there are several pharmaceutical companies that are scrambling to create a marijuana alternative that can be patented.
The AMA, Pharmaceutical companies, and FDA are all riddled with past employees of one another. I just find it hard to believe that the AMA would do something that will potentially take profits away from the pharmaceutical companies.
The AMA is waking up. We have had 72 years of lies shoved at us and that is 72 years to long. The DEA and the rest of law enforcement are so dependant on the monies from cannabis, I do not think that they will ever agree to legalize cannabis. As I see things it is not their job to make laws but to enforce the laws already passed. I say the DEA and the rest of law enforcement are breaking the law every time some one is arrested or fined for cannabis. Now we can cantact the DEA directly and that to me is a ruse, like a trojan horse. We tell them what we think and then we may be harrassed, investigated, raided or even jailed on some bull—- charge. I will not give them the time of day. I am so tired of cops thinking that they know more than any physician on this matter. I myself will continue to use cannabis even tho it is against the law. At least I know that I will not die from an overdose or become a junkie, again. Keep tokin and overgrow big bro.
The DEA should be abolished as a failed agency and a total waste of Tax Payers money!
You can’t convince someone whose livlihood depends on their remaining unconvinced.
think about it the majority of substances the dea gets is marijuana so if they couldnt go for that anymore many of them would lose jobs and i think thats y they are taking the stand that they are. complete ignorance but one day and i think its not to far they wont have a say and they wont be able to do anything about it.
twistedma:
It’s hard to say that Law Enforcement will lose jobs after making marjuana legal. You have to consider the fact that resources can then be filtered to other crimes. In CA alone there were 60K violent crimes that went without arrest…. those resources could be used better! Also they have to consider that a whole new regulatory system will need to be put in place and resources will be needed for that.
Hi, MatterOfLiberty #3- I like your idea in principle, although I would drop the annual fee to $100 (more in line with a fishing or hunting license) and up the number of plants to a dozen. The three ounce possession sounds like a dandy idea as well. Anybody else out there willing to support an annual cultivation permit?
Stephen # 14: Just to be clear, I accused the DEA of willful ignorance. I’m not saying they were being dishonest when they made the initial remark, rather that they will leave the now incorrect language up as long as they can. Given the rest of your comment, I believe we are on the same page. Just a small misunderstanding.
Thanks everyone! I’ll let you know if they update the page.
Why does MPP support Medical Marijuana yet seems to suppress full legalization support?
Fact. Advocates were running towards a ballot initiative for full legalization in the state of Michigan BEFORE MPP supported a new and successful medical marijuana bill.
Curious. Why is that when these activist asked for more support from MPP and George Seuros, they were denied further funding.
The ballot inititive died before it could ever be voted on.
I challenge MPP to come clean and confess that you do not support full legal access.
Why does a billionaire work so hard to legalize Marijuana?
So they can cut out the “mom and pop” angle and keep all of the cut.
I doubt MPP will fess up but I just can’t blindly believe that MPP and DPA are just doing this all out of the kindest of their collective hearts.
There is a greater agenda here friends.
MPP does not put the most up to date news on the site.
I found out about the AMA press release days before MPP ever reported on it.
MPP does what we all do.
They scan through search engines and then say, ” BREAKING NEWS.”
BS. Jack Herer is disgusted by MPP and so am I.
Free Cannabis for all, not just billionaires making pow pows at your expense.
Mr Whistle Blower NM # 24: I think you may be mistaken about MPP. Here is a link to our Web site, where you can find more information about our work and how we approach reforming marijuana laws: http://www.mpp.org/about/
#2
The law says that if a substance has “no medical value” it must remain Schedule I even if it is no more dangerous than drugs in lower schedules. This also means, that if Cannabis is removed from schedule I it DOES have to be weighed against other drugs in the schedule, which in turn means that it basically has to go straight to schedule III because of Marinol.
Which leads to the response I have for #24
MPP knows that proving a medical value is currently the single most important factor in legalizing. If it has a medical value, it must be rescheduled. If it is rescheduled, a huge portion of the funds given to law enforcement to fight cannabis will no longer be allowed for that purpose. The drug czar will no longer be required by law to oppose legalization, and that it can be legally grown, tested and distributed under federal law. Jack Herer is right that we just need full legalization, and it needs to be as legal as oregano, but that’s not going to happen overnight. MPP’s baby steps are working better than anything else anybody has ever done.
When NORML was founded, the original intent was to call it the “National organization for the REPEAL of marijuana laws”, but some people recognized that baby steps needed to be taken and changed the R to stand for “reform”. Are you disgusted by that too?
Personally, I have the utmost respect for MPP, NORML, SSDP, LEAP, Jack Herer, and everybody who funds these organizations. Legalize it!
p.s. if you think George Soros is the billionaire funding MPP, you’re slightly misinformed. see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lewis_%28businessman%29#Donations
and don’t forget to switch your insurance to Progressive!
i called em… they already know.. but theyre movin too slow yo.
” If marijuana[sic] were to dissappear from the face of the earth tomorrow, it would b a DISASTER for the D E A.”
Ed. Rosenthal
So, it seems it worked. The statement is gone. No correction was issued, it just disappeared. There is still incorrect info at the DEA run site:
http://www.justthinktwice.com/factfiction/MarijuanaisMedicine.cfm
So that ought to be the next step…
The DEA are Nazi Pigs that only concern themselves with harrassing American Patriots for growing a plant God created. God gave us this plant to use and prosper.
Luke C # 29: Awesome! Way to stay on top of this. I’ll post an update as soon as I can. Did you notice they removed more than just that reference? Also a few others about the AMA over a number of different Web pages. That one you point out will probably be updated soon. I’ll keep my eye on it.
On this page, they removed the reference in the text, but forgot to take out the footnote! http://www.justice.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html
The footnote is now orphaned!
the contact page “doesnt work.” I kept getting bounced messages and then when I told them their web developer sucks, they got all defensive. They are just trying to avoid all the flack.
Sunil, I owe you many, many thanks.
(Thank you!)
Will you kindly please explain why MPP backed out at the last moment during the ballot initiative process for full legalization in michigan?
Does MPP deny they ended further funding?
I am not naive and I don’t need MPP to tell me what they do I know.
MPP nine times out ten supports medical marijuana ballot measures not full legalization measures.
My case in point, you try to point to your info page like a good little foot soldier instead of being honest about the michigan ballot initiative.
Did MPP back full legalization measure BEFORE the successful medical marijuana legislation?
That’s a straightforward enough of a question.
Please answer the question.
George Soros has a net worth about around 10 billion. Our friend Peter Lewis trails far behind.
It is George Soros who directly and indirectly provides the funding for DPA and MPP.
It is then not far reaching to say, that I wonder why George Soros is so very concerned about medical marijuana.
Hey Whistle boy, paranoia will destroy ya!
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