18 Congressmen Ask Obama to Reschedule Marijuana

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: US News

Eighteen members of Congress are asking President Barack Obama, who recently said smoking pot is safer than drinking alcohol, to end marijuana's classification as one of the nation's most dangerous narcotics.

Marijuana is currently a “Schedule I” drug, meaning the federal government considers it to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical value.

Obama’s favorable comparison of marijuana to alcohol in a January New Yorker interview, in which he also reiterated his pot use as a youth, thrilled pro-marijuana activists. But his reluctance to promptly order his attorney general, Eric Holder, to reschedule pot accordingly is a frustration to the same policy reformers.

“You said that you don’t believe marijuana is any more dangerous than alcohol, a fully legalized substance, and believe it to be less dangerous ‘in terms of its impact on the individual consumer,’” the members of Congress wrote to Obama on Wednesday. “This is true. Marijuana, however, remains listed in the federal Controlled Substances Act at Schedule I, the strictest classification, along with heroin and LSD. This is a higher listing than cocaine and methamphetamine, Schedule II substances that you gave as examples of harder drugs. This makes no sense.”



Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/02/12/18-congressmen-ask-obama-to-reschedule-marijuana

[bleedinglib]

1. YES!!!!

Come on Mr Prez, Get with the program!!!
I have been taking pain pills for years & I would love too try it?
In my state of Missouri the penalty is 100 years to life.

[tridim]

4. Mr Prez got the ball rolling in DC...

Everything that is happening now with legalization is because he made it clear that he is "with the program".

[Dustlawyer]

6. It works better on some types of pain than others. For nerve pain like neuropathy and fibromyalgia,

it works very well. I have small fiber sensory neuropathy and have a neural stimulator implanted in my body, as well as taking several medications for pain, including a schedule 1 drug that is not pot. While in California a few years ago a man on the street gave me a joint to try just because I let him bum a couple of cigarettes. Back at the hotel I had my 1st PAIN FREE moments since I contracted my disease! I hope you will have the opportunity in the future to try it and see. I also hope we both will be able to take advantage of this medication legally soon. They have even started talking about it in Texas! Its so cold here because Hell is in the process of freezing over!

[bemildred]

2. Change the law, cowards. nt

[tridim]

3. :D :D :D

Here we go!

[RainDog]

5. The Eighteen

The members to sign on to the new letter are:

Democrats

Blumenauer, (D-OR)
Cohen (D-TN)
Sam Farr (Calif.)
Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.)
Mike Honda (Calif.)
Jared Huffman (Calif.)
Barbara Lee (Calif.)
Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)
Alan Lowenthal (Calif.)
James McGovern (Mass.)
Jim Moran (Va.)
Beto O’Rourke (Texas)
Jared Polis (Colo.)
Mike Quigley (Ill.)
Jan Schakowsky (Ill.)
Eric Swalwell (Calif.)
Peter Welch (Vt.)

...and one Republican - Rohrabacher (R-CA)

[lsewpershad]

7. About time

[warrant46]

8. Unfortunately that will Never Happen

The spine having been removed by the CCA= Corrections Corporation of Amerika




http://cca.com/

Our company – the first of its kind – was founded in 1983. Our approach to public-private partnership in corrections combines the cost savings and innovation of business with the strict guidelines and consistent oversight of government. Our company designs, builds, manages and operates prisons, jails, detention centers and residential re-entry centers on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshals Service, many states and counties across the country.

Cost savings from CCA facilities can be reinvested in additional public safety programs, but the benefits for taxpayers don’t end there. The presence of a CCA facility leads to additional economic benefits, such as tax revenues and utility payments. For example:
A CCA facility is often the largest employer in the community where it operates, which means hundreds of jobs, with competitive salaries and benefits, and an annual payroll in the millions of dollars. For example, on behalf of one state partner, we recently opened a prison that provides more than 200 jobs, pays an estimated $8 million annually in salaries and benefits, and contributes more than $1 million each year in combined local property taxes and utilities. Additionally, CCA facilities purchase a number of goods and services locally, creating a multiplied effect in the local economy

[NorthCarolina]

9. The private prison industry won't permit it. nt

[YOHABLO]

11. Amen to that !

[wildbilln864]

13. That's defeatest & we need to force the issue!

It's supposed to be of the people, for the people, & by the people. Not of, for & by the corporations.

[kysrsoze]

26. Colorado and Washington have already done so. The first dominoes - looks like VT and OR are next

[YOHABLO]

10. "any more dangerous than alcohol" Oh please that's such BS. MJ is not harmful .. period.

[wildbilln864]

12. k & r! n/t

[CFLDem]

14. And the dam starts to break.

[okaawhatever]

16. What effect will rescheduling it have? That's is the important question. Also, 3% of congresspeople

doesn't a majority make. Not even close. If the issue is so important why don't we wait until, I don't know at least 200 sign it.

[Comrade Grumpy]

17. Rescheduling would open to door to more scientific research, but...

...then marijuana would be treated like some sort of prescription drug.

I think the thing to do, and the congressmen also suggested this, is to deschedule it. Treat it like an herb. Or like alcohol, which is not considered a controlled substance.

[okaawhatever]

18. If they descheduled it I wonder what oversight would exist for quality, etc. Also how it would be

treated for research and medical use. I don't really see a benefit to rescheduling or descheduling it. Decriminalizing it would be better and then allow it to be used medically and have a good base of data before rescheduling it.

My concern is that any move to reschedule or deschedule it is really just a move from libertarian types that wouldn't allow any government oversight into production or purity down the road.

thanks for the info.

[Comrade Grumpy]

20. There are quality controls on commercial alcohol production.

I can see something similar with marijuana as a de-scheduled product.

Marijuana commerce would be treated like any other commerce, with appropriate regulations and quality control.

But there also needs to be an informal, non-commercial sector for people who grow their own and sell or share small amounts, like with home brewed beer.

I'm increasingly of the mind that the tomato model of legalization is most appropriate. Treat it like tomatoes. You can grow and consume your own, you can give your excess away, but if you want to be in the market, you're subject to regulation.

No limits on personal possession. (It's bizarre--somebody has a basement full of wine and he's a connoisseur; somebody has a basement full of weed and he's a felon.) No limits on number of plants grown. (Under full legalization, who has any incentive to grow large numbers of plants other than commercial producers?)

[okaawhatever]

21. I agree with your assessment. The one thing I think that would need to be addressed is oversight.

Currently alcohol is under alcohol, tobacco and firearms. And now tobacco is under Food and Drug Administration. I guess it will boil down to which regulatory agency gets the oversight and how best to make things happen.
Thanks for your insight.

[RainDog]

28. Polis introduced legislation last year

to move marijuana from the oversight of the DEA to the ATF (and marijuana).

And, at the same time, Blumenauer intro'd leg. to tax marijuana at the federal level.

http://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=318723

Washington, Feb 5, 2013

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) today introduced two pieces of legislation to de-federalize marijuana policy and create a framework for the federal taxation of cannabis. Polis’ Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act would remove the Drug Enforcement Agency’s authority over marijuana and allow states to choose whether to allow marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. Blumenauer’s Marijuana Tax Equity Act would create a federal excise tax on marijuana. Together, these bills would provide a system of regulation and taxation for marijuana in states where it is legal.

“This legislation doesn't force any state to legalize marijuana, but Colorado and the 18 other jurisdictions that have chosen to allow marijuana for medical or recreational use deserve the certainty of knowing that federal agents won’t raid state-legal businesses,” said Polis. “Congress should simply allow states to regulate marijuana as they see fit and stop wasting federal tax dollars on the failed drug war.”

The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act follows Colorado’s model of regulating marijuana like alcohol by:

Removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act;
Transferring the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority to regulate marijuana to a newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, which will be tasked with regulating marijuana as it currently does alcohol;
Requiring marijuana producers to purchase a permit, as commercial alcohol producers do, of which the proceeds would offset the cost of federal oversight; and,
Ensuring federal law distinguishes between individuals who grow marijuana for personal use and those involved in commercial sale and distribution.
States could choose to continue to prohibit marijuana production or use in their states and it would remain illegal to transport marijuana to a state where it is prohibited.

The Marijuana Tax Equity Act would create the following framework:

This bill imposes a 50 percent excise tax on the first sale of marijuana, from the producer to the next stage of production, usually the processor;
Similar to the rules within the alcohol and tobacco tax provisions, an occupational tax will be imposed on those operating in marijuana, with producers, importers and manufacturers facing an occupation tax of $1,000/a year and any other person engaged in the business facing an annual tax of $500/a year;
Civil penalties will be imposed for failure to comply with taxing duties. Criminal penalties will be assessed for intentional efforts to defraud the taxing authorities; and,
The bill also requires the IRS to produce a study of the industry after two years, and every five years after that, and to issue recommendations to Congress to continue improving the administration of the tax.

This is a link to a dicussion of these - http://polis.house.gov/uploadedfiles/the_path_forward.pdf

[okaawhatever]

31. thanks for the info. I wasn't aware bills had been introduced. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

22. It opens the door to research

While it is still schedule 1 - they have to go through unbelievable hoops to get approval.

[okaawhatever]

24. Okay, thanks for that. So basically, because it's a Schedule 1 it's like experimenting with

percocet. I get it now. We need to get more Congresspeople on this.

[DiverDave]

19. He wont do it, because $$$

that is the bottom line, you think he cares?

[Ruby the Liberal]

23. I just came out of surgery last month - and this was all that helped.

They gave me Oxy, which made me stupid (and according to my family, I turned into a total bitch/witch while taking it).

The cannabis was the only thing that eased the pain and allowed me to relax enough to truly heal, and yes, my surgeon and oncologist both know that (and looked the other way).

Do the right thing, Mr President. This can help so many people...

K&R for the congress critters who get it.

[Strelnikov_]

25. " . . . considers it to have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical value"

Using this definition, alcohol should be a 'Schedule I' drug.

[Laelth]

27. Good. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[RainDog]

29. What rescheduling would accomplish

In response to the recent New Yorker magazine article in which Obama placed marijuana in the same category of substances as alcohol and cigarettes, and Mark Kleiman's statement that rescheduling would have little to no effect, the author notes it was incorrect to claim rescheduling marijuana is only possible through an act of Congress, and notes there are significant benefits to placing marijuana as a Schedule III - V substance.

As Kleiman points out, removing marijuana from Schedule I would not automatically make it legal for medical use, since any cannabis product still would have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “For a doctor to prescribe it,” notes Aaron Houston, a Marijuana Majority board member and WeedMaps lobbyist, “there would have to be an FDA-approved formulation of it.”

Since marijuana itself cannot be patented, a pharmaceutical company would not have much incentive to go through the arduous, time-consuming, and expensive process required to gain FDA approval. Furthermore, drug regulators tend to look askance at herbal medicine, preferring isolated chemicals. “They’re never going to approve a whole-plant organic product,” says Dan Riffle, director of federal policies at the Marijuana Policy Project.

But Riffle adds that rescheduling marijuana would make it easier to conduct research on the plant’s medical utility, which could lead to cannabis-derived medications that would pass muster with the FDA. “The biggest obstacle, at least historically, to doing research on marijuana to prove its medical benefit is that it’s in Schedule I,” Riffle says. “So you had that Catch-22, where marijuana is a Schedule I drug because there’s no evidence, and there’s no evidence because marijuana is a Schedule I drug.”

Beyond the ability to do research is the ability to even consider the research because of "burdensome registration requirements and regulations" for Schedule I substances that do not exist for research into Schedule III or lower substances.

There are other research obstacles, unique to marijuana. In 1998, responding to the legalization of medical marijuana in California, the Clinton administration imposed an additional layer of review on research involving cannabis, requiring approval by the Public Health Service as well as the FDA, the DEA, and the relevant institutional review board. And even after they get all the other necessary approvals, researchers have to obtain marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which has a monopoly on the legal supply—something that is not true of other Schedule I drugs. NIDA, an agency whose mission focuses on marijuana’s hazards, has not been keen to assist research aimed at measuring its benefits. Although neither of these requirements is a necessary consequence of marijuana’s Schedule I status, they would be harder to defend if marijuana were reclassified, which would mean acknowledging that it has medical value and can be used safely.

In addition, Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits the deduction of business expenses related to “trafficking in controlled substances,” only for Schedule I or II substances.

Removing marijuana as a Schedule I substance would make it possible for the Drug Czar's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to be more honest, since they are required by law to oppose the legalization of any Schedule I substance. As Blumenauer recently noted, this inability to speak honestly about marijuana undermines any statement such organizations make when they cannot admit marijuana is less harmful than meth, while every mother and her child know this is reality.

Currently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is barred from using any of its funds to promote the legalization of Schedule I substances, but this ban does not exist for substances below Schedule I.

Rescheduling would be a powerful message that science and evidence are more important than the tangle of laws that have resisted this same science and evidence.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/02/07/more-than-zero-reclassifying-marijuana-would-have-a-significant-impact-on-drug-policy/2/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024460047

[liberal_at_heart]

30. I love it! There is no other reason other than money not to reschedule it.