Multiple nations are already in violation of international drug treaties re: marijuana

[RainDog]

The following nations all allow marijuana to be sold through pharmacies: Great Britain, Canada, Israel, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Austria, France. In those nations, marijuana is sold under the name Sativex.

Sativex is whole-plant marijuana that is reduced and suspended in liquid and is used as a mouth spray for treatment of spasticity in relation to M.S.

In addition, Uruguay legalized cannabis in 2013. Canada and Israel have entered into negotiations with Uruguay to grow the marijuana used for their cannabis medicines. These three nations have intent to traffick marijuana, internationally.

The United States Congress authorized the legal sale of marijuana as medicine in Washington D.C. in 2013 when it finally funded the law passed more than a decade before by residents of D.C. to legalize marijuana for medical use/sale.

Colorado and Washington State have legalized marijuana completely, not simply for medical use.

When a law or treaty no longer reflects the reality of nations or the science that is supposed to undergird those treaties, the treaties themselves should change, because they are worthless.

And, in fact, nations have come to this conclusion themselves and are refusing to agree to the outdated conventions regarding marijuana in relation to their laws.

Bolivia received a special exemption from international drug treaties for the use of coca leaves by the indigenous people of that nation. The exemption was granted because chewing the leaves of the coca plant has been used to mitigate the hard labor of workers among the indigenous population.

Marijuana, like coca, is a plant, not a drug. It is part of the American tradition. Cannabis was legal tender in the U.S., in hemp form, when this nation was founded. Farmers were required to plant cannabis at that time. Cannabis was also part of the war effort in WWII, with hemp cannabis again playing a fundamental role in the nation's freedom through industrial uses.

Marijuana has long been associated with the musical heritage of the U.S. and the creation of SPECIFICALLY American music: blues and jazz. These two musical forms are the only indigenous musical forms to come out of the creation of the U.S. Marijuana was part of the culture of jazz. Songs were composed extolling the benefits of "reefer", or "vipers", and the form of jazz itself, improvisation, is considered part of marijuana culture, in the attention to detail and the alteration of time, as many cultural critics have noted.

Marijuana, in other words, has just as much claim as part of this nation's heritage as coca leaves do to Bolivia's population.

...and just to put the claim that marijuana cannot be rescheduled by the AG to rest.

Rescheduling has nothing to say about treaties anyway, because a drug's schedule is supposed to relate to its danger and value.

At this time we have a sclerotic bureaucracy, the DEA, dedicated to propagating lies about marijuana. Their stance undermines support for law and order and creates a climate of doubt about the legitimacy of laws because of their refusal to address the reality that marijuana has medical value.

That reality, that marijuana has medical value, is not going to change in favor of the DEA's stance.

Instead, people in this nation will suffer because of the DEA's intransigence. They are harming people in this nation by their refusal to address the reality that marijuana has medical value. Maybe we should propose a citizen's arrest of Michelle Leonhart.

The DEA has been complicit in the murder of American citizens because of its intransigence regarding cannabis laws, including an HIV/AIDS patient named Peter McWilliams, during the Clinton administration, and the recent death of a child in Indiana whose state refuses to allow the use of cannabis for the treatment of a life-threatening disorder called Dravet's Syndrome epilepsy.

This isn't just a matter of semantics. The DEA has conspired to undermine the health and well being of American citizens because it remains irrational about marijuana as a medical substance, and it remains irrational about the harm of marijuana in relation to other substances.

[djean111]

1. Yup.

And looks like the only thing that will happen to Uruguay (for legalizing pot) will be a frowny face.
Pot can be legalized, but the big money from the DEA would be sorely missed, and then there is a chance that pot might supplant some of the toxic and expensive medications we are bombarded with.

[RainDog]

2. Maybe we should take out arrest warrants on state legislators

who refuse to alter their laws to reflect the medical value of marijuana and charge them with attempted murder.

...just saying.

It's time for our nation's governmental offices to stop their lies and start acting for the benefit of the American people.

[questionseverything]

10. sadly it seems to be potus fighting us and the rest the world

Gustavo de Greiff, former Attorney General of Colombia and also former Colombian Ambassador to Mexico, ―The majority of the representatives of the American countries, as well as the Caribbean, were for abandoning the actual strategy and replacing it with a regulation of production, commercialization, and consumption.‖ Following the conference, President Obama stated that ―The United States will not be going in this direction … I personally, and my Administration‟s position is, that legalization is not the answer.‖

http://www2.nycbar.org/pdf/report/uploads/3_20072283-InternationalDrugControlTreaties.pdf

[RainDog]

11. I think Obama is open to reason

unlike too many of our legislators.

I mean, when you have creationists and climate change deniers creating laws... well, good science isn't high on their agenda.

I think Obama has been unwilling to rock the federal bureaucratic boat - and I understand this, even if I don't agree, as far as this issue is concerned, based upon the history of legislation.

But he has also called on Congress to do its job and address the legislation regarding regulation and taxation of cannabis from Polis and Blumenauer - so he is signaling a willingness to change his position, even though he refuses to use his power to bring about such change - at this time.

This subject is getting more attention from the press than at any time in history - and the American people are, as would be expected, more and more accepting of cannabis as medicine when they see proof of its efficacy. Maybe when opinion polls reach 60% for legalization, we'll see some change.

But what I would like someone to address is the fact that Congress has already acted, legislatively, in a way that contradicts the drug schedule of the CSA. Haven't they, by funding DC's law, reschedule cannabis in fact, if not on "paper" in the CSA?

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. One nit-pick: Bolivia wasn't granted a special exemption, it made its own.

It withdrew from the Single Convention because of the racist language calling the coca leaf a narcotic. It only reentered the convention with a reservation that it did not recognize that provision. The US, Canada, Sweden, and handful of other countries tried to block that move, but were unable to come up with enough votes to do so.

[RainDog]

5. Thank goodness for brave politicians like Evo Morales

and thanks for explicating the process of Bolivia's exemption.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. The UN anti-drug treaties are the legal backbone of global drug prohibition.

It is time to revise them or scrap them.

They have failed in their stated purpose and created great harm along the way. And continue to do so.

[Cerridwen]

6. I would add "we," meaning the US Government,

I would add "we," meaning the US Government, have a rather checkered past regarding how "we" have interpreted and followed treaty agreements; not to mention international law which "we" occasionally just ignore.

"We" have a rather long history of following the rules from which "we" benefit while ignoring or outright breaking those rules from which "we" don't benefit or that get in the way of "us" doing something "we" want.

Rendition
Assassination(s) of foreign leaders
Spying on our allies
Interference into the affairs of sovereign nations

Ah yes, and last but hardly least, treaties between the US Gov't and the Native American Peoples right here within "our" own borders. Hell, not only did "we" and do "we" continue to not honor those treaties, "we" have helped "ourselves" to untold billions of dollars of monies, land, and other assets of the very people with whom "we" have treaties.

It all appears arbitrarily selective, hypocritical, and cynical.

[RainDog]

7. Yes. Thank you for mentioning that

I was going to note our dismissal of torture, but deleted it to stay on the topic of cannabis. But thank you for noting this reality.

[Cerridwen]

8. You're welcome.

I didn't want to derail; just expand (add) to the discussion.

I'm glad you don't mind.

[RainDog]

9. It does indicate the relative importance of treaties

so, yeah, thanks!

[RainDog]

21. would you mind x-posting the information about EOs? n/t

[Cerridwen]

24. Oops. I missed this yesterday.

I think you mean this post? "{EO}...implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty."

If so I'll edit here to add snippets or I'll post as reply to your OP if you'd prefer.

I apologize I missed it yesterday. I was watching movies in one tab and occasionally reading and posting here in another tab.

[RainDog]

25. The link is good. Thank you! n/t

[Cerridwen]

26. If I say, "you're welcome," it provides a kick.

[RainDog]

27. why yes, it does...

[MindMover]

12. Way toooooo much logic and rational and research ... duh, have another hit dude ...

[RainDog]

15. that would be Mme. La Dudette, s'il te plait.

...and make mine a Shiraz, not a White Russian.

[MindMover]

13. You know that things will change when the big dogs get in the game ....

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/ip-blind-treaty/

[malaise]

14. Tune in tomorrow morning from 6.00am - 9.00am ET

for a good discussion on Peter Tosh's contribution to the demand for ganja to be legalized.
http://www.iriefm.net/

[RainDog]

16. Thanks!

Will they keep this available for a while as a recorded program?

[malaise]

17. Not sure

but they have folks from all over the world participating.

[W.J. McCabe]

18. Our country seems to be on a downward spiral.

We will become a third world nation if we cannot arrest and reverse the decent.

[RainDog]

19. The downward spiral is due to Reaganomics

nothing else.

Since the advent of Reagonmics, the middle class in the U.S. has suffered continued losses in wages and the nation as a whole has seen massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the rich.

In every nation in existence, the presence of a healthy middle class is the single most important indicator of a strong democracy.

Republican economic policies, iow, are a threat to democracy and stability in this nation.

Cannabis has nothing to do with that situation.

[W.J. McCabe]

23. Reaganomics is a Symptom, Not the Disease

The disease is conservatism and a conservative movement fueled by putocrat money and a largely uninformed citizenry. A conservatism that embraces such infamously unworkable ideas as prohibition and trickle down economics.

[RainDog]

20. here's a link

with a look at the issue of international treaties and marijuana reform.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11701732

[RainDog]

22. The FDA has allowed medical marijuana with the orphaned drug Epidiolex

So, 70% of the American population, for more than a decade, has approved of legal medical marijuana.
Congress has approved and allocated funding for medical marijuana in DC as of 2013
The FDA has approved medical marijuana via GW Pharmaceuticals application for a new drug and because of advocates for the use of the drug for pediatric epilepsy.

...so, basically the United States, at the level of the public, Congress, and the FDA have agreed that marijuana has medical value.

Why is this not cause for a rescheduling hearing? According to the provisions for rescheduling, this series of events would certainly seem to qualify as a reason for doing so.

http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/cannabis-derived-dravet-syndrome-drug-gets-us-orphan-drug-approval/

Epidiolex, a medicine that uses cannabidiol (CBD) as an active ingredient, has been designated an orphan drug for Dravet syndrome by the US Food and Drug Administration, giving manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals the go-ahead to run a clinical development programme next year.

CBD is a non-psychoactive compound derived from the cannabis plant. In GW Pharmaceuticals’ formulation, it is administered orally, as a liquid.

The orphan drug designation means it is recognised as a potential therapy for a condition that only affects a small number of people – in this case a rare form of paediatric epilepsy.

...GW Pharmaceuticals expects to begin a formal clinical development programme for Epidiolex in 2014. In the meantime, some US paediatric epilepsy specialists will be able to treat patients with the drug immediately thanks to seven Investigational New Drug (IND) applications granted to the firm by the FDA.