#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 16 Aug 2016 04:20:21 PST
DEA Reaffirms Flat Earth Position With Regard To Scheduling Marijuana
Washington, DC: The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has rejected a pair of administrative rescheduling petitions challenging the federal classification of cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance with no accepted medical utility. The decision continues to classify marijuana in the same category as heroin.
However, in a separate announcement, the agency said that it is adopting policy changes designed to expand the production of research-grade cannabis for FDA-approved clinical protocols.
Presently, any clinical trial involving cannabis must access source material cultivated at the University of Mississippi - an arbitrary prohibition that is not in place for other controlled substances. Today, the agency announced for the first time that it will consider applications from multiple parties, including private entities, to produce marijuana for FDA-approved research protocols as well as for "commercial product development." Ironically, this change was initially recommended by the DEA's own administrative law judge in 2007, but that decision was ultimately rejected by the agency in 2011.
Commenting on the DEA's actions, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: "While this announcement is a significant step toward better facilitating and expanding clinical investigations into cannabis' therapeutic efficacy, ample scientific evidence already exists to remove cannabis from its schedule I classification and to acknowledge its relative safety compared to other scheduled substances, like opioids, and unscheduled substances, such as alcohol. Ultimately, the federal government ought to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act altogether in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco, thus providing states the power to establish their own marijuana regulatory policies free from federal intrusion."
He added: "Since the DEA has failed to take such action, then it is incumbent that members of Congress act swiftly to amend cannabis' criminal status in a way that comports with both public and scientific opinion. Failure to do so continues the federal government's 'Flat Earth' position. It willfully ignores the well-established therapeutic properties associated with the plant and it ignores the laws in 26 states recognizing marijuana's therapeutic efficacy."
A recent review of FDA-approved clinical studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of herbal cannabis concluded: "Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that Information on safety is lacking."
Added Armentano: "The DEA's decision is strictly a political one. There is nothing scientific about willful ignorance."
The DEA has previously rejected several other rescheduling petitions, including a 2002 petition filed by a coalition of marijuana law reform and health advocacy organizations, and a 1972 petition filed by NORML. The petitions that triggered this latest DEA action were filed in 2009 by a nurse practitioner and in 2011 by then-Govs. Christine Gregoire of Washington and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
Study: Frequent Marijuana Consumers Are Not More Likely To Access Health Care Services
Milwaukee, WI: Marijuana consumers do not access health care services at rates that are higher than non-users, according to data published online ahead of print in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin assessed the relationship between marijuana use and health care utilization in a nationally representative sample of 174,159,864 US adults aged 18 to 59 years old.
Authors reported "no significant increase in outpatient health care visits and overnight hospital admissions in marijuana users compared to non-users." They also reported that those who consumed cannabis multiple times per day were no more likely to seek health care patient services as compared to those who used it less frequently.
They concluded, "[C]ontrary to popular belief, ... marijuana use is not associated with increased healthcare utilization, [and] there [is] also no association between health care utilization and frequency of marijuana use."
A previous assessment, published in 2014 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, similarly reported that the past use of marijuana (within the last three months) was not associated with adverse effects on health or comorbidity, frequency of ER visits or hospitalization.
Full text of the study, "Marijuana users do not have increased healthcare utilization: A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study," appears in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.
Gallup: More Adults Self-Identify As Current Marijuana Consumers
Washington, DC: One in eight Americans over the age of 18 acknowledge that they currently "smoke marijuana," according to survey data compiled by Gallup.
Thirteen percent of respondents, including one in five of those between the ages 18 and 30, say that they use the substance. That total is nearly double the percentage reported in 2013.
Men were more likely than women to admit to being current consumers of marijuana. Geographically, those respondents who reside in the western part of the United States are most likely to acknowledge using the plant.
Forty-three percent of respondents acknowledge having tried marijuana at some point in their lives, a percentage that has changed little in past years.
While the number of American adults using cannabis has risen in recent years, youth experimentation of the substance has declined over the past decade. Younger adolescents' disapproval for marijuana has also increased over this same time period.
