U.S. will affirm its prohibition on medical marijuana

[n2doc]

The government on Thursday will refuse again to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, reaffirming its conclusion that the drug's therapeutic value has not been proved scientifically, according to government officials, and defying a growing clamor to legalize it for the treatment of a variety of conditions.

In an announcement scheduled to be in the Federal Register, the Drug Enforcement Administration will turn down requests to remove marijuana from "Schedule I," which classifies it as a drug with "no currently accepted medical use" in the United States and precludes doctors from prescribing it.

The decision will keep the federal government at odds with 25 states and the District of Columbia, which have passed laws allowing medical use of marijuana to some degree. Members of Congress have called for its reclassification and on Wednesday, the National Conference of State Legislatures adopted a resolution asking the federal government to remove marijuana from Schedule I.

The agency will announce one policy change that could increase the amount of research conducted on marijuana, the officials said. The DEA will expand the number of places allowed to grow marijuana for studies of its value in chronic pain relief, as a treatment for epilepsy and other purposes. Currently, only the University of Mississippi,which holds an exclusive contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is federally licensed to grow marijuana for research purposes.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/10/u-s-affirms-its-prohibition-on-medical-marijuana/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_tyh-marijuana-905pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[ms liberty]

1. Dammit. I hope this is inaccurate

But it's probably not.

[safeinOhio]

2. Any chance it

Could go to the courts?

[6chars]

3. The President and the Dem Nominee agree with this

They think that marijuana has no medical use and a high potential for abuse. They agree with the DEA penalty schedule for possession of "less than 50 kg of marijuana" or "1 to 49 plants"

First Offense: Not more than 5 yrs. Fine not more than $250,000, $1 million if other than an individual.

Second Offense: Not more than 10 yrs. Fine $500,000 if an individual, $2 million if other than individual.

Obama has not moved to remove it from Schedule 1, Clinton has said she does not think it should be removed from Schedule 1.

I mention this because I think they know damn well that it is not like crack heroin. Obama knows personally, very well. They are being hypocrites because they think it benefits them politically somehow, and allowing millions of lives to be ruined. In all this discussion about how wrong the DEA is, I have not seen anyone willing to criticize our party leaders. They should hear it loud and strong from Democrats that this policy is scientifically wrong and morally wrong.

[Person 2713]

4. I believe the democrats did have a candidate in the primary who addressed legalization

[jtuck004]

5. Obama's legacy - his appointment to the DEA keeps racism alive.

Wasserman Schultz is probably tossing dollars in her piggy bank to celebrate - this will be great for the people who own and profit from people's misery in private private prisons, the bosses she worked so hard for, probably tens of thousands of newly incarcerated black folk to jail.

And since WA state has made it legal for moneyed white folks to grow and sell, the cops can continue arresting the black guys on the corner.

Black. Still, not quite equal, even in a state that is as blue as they get.

"Black people are arrested at four times the rate of whites for dealing pot, even though whites are up to 32 percent more likely to sell the drug."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/legal-pot-and-the-black-market/481506/

Thanks Obama.