Like the old saying goes, “Money Talks.” And, on the issue of medical marijuana, money has resulted in the institutional corruption of the federal government. This is a harsh charge, but demonstrably true. How so? Because the federal government, on the one hand, classifies the natural cannabis (marijuana) plant as a Schedule I Drug – which by definition means that it has no medical value whatsoever, joining heroin and LSD – at the same time it classifies Marinol, which is a synthetic marijuana, as a Schedule III drug, like Tylenol with Codeine. Therefore marijuana cannot be prescribed by a medical doctor, but Marinol can be. How could this inconsistency occur? The answer is that a plant cannot be patented, but a synthetic substance can be. So big pharmaceutical money has corrupted the federal government’s decisions by successfully lobbing for different treatment for marijuana and Marinol.
The federal government controls and mostly prohibits studies about the medical benefits of cannabis. So even though many quality medical institutions like the University of California and the Centers for Disease Control have long requested to be granted the authority to conduct some studies, those requests have been denied. But many studies in Israel and elsewhere have shown that cannabis is effective in the treatment of diseases and conditions like glaucoma, skin cancer, chronic pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, nerve pain and epilepsy. (These findings were consistent with those found by DEA Administrative Judge Francis Young after taking months of testimony, who also found that marijuana is substantially less dangerous than alcohol. But his findings were also ignored, and fairly soon after they were made public, Judge Young was no longer employed by the DEA.) So now just a few weeks ago the federal government again declined to change its scheduling on natural marijuana. Could that conclusion be spurred by the recent findings of the University of Georgia that in the 17 states studied where medical marijuana is now legal, prescriptions for painkillers and seizure medicines went down by $65 million? If you agree that this is a corruption, one way to confront it is to stand up for Liberty and join me in voting in favor of California’s Proposition 64 this coming November, which would authorize the recreational use of marijuana for adults. Passing that proposition would strongly tell both the federal government and big pharmaceutical companies that we disapprove of both their motives and their actions regarding medical and recreational marijuana.
Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice
President, along with Governor
Gary Johnson as the candidate for President
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