Federal Court Rejects Marijuana Rescheduling; ASA Responds

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oscar169

oscar169

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Court cites no significant studies issued in 13 years; ASA vows appeal

by Rick Thompson

On January 22nd a federal appeals court officially denied a petition to remove marijuana from a list of substances “with no accepted medical use.”
The petition had originally been filed in 2011 by Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Patients Out Of Time and the Coalition to Reschedule Cannabis (CRC) on behalf of several named litigants. The DEA’s 2011 decision to reject reclassification was the basis for the appeal. Despite ASA’s listing of over 200 peer-reviewed and published studies on the efficacy of marijuana, the federal appeals court agreed with the DEA and asserted these studies did not constitute “sufficient proof of medical efficacy itself.”
A 1999 study by the government-affiliated Institute of Medicine stated that “marijuana might have medical benefits,” per the federal Court. In the 13 years since the Report’s release, the DEA claims the scientific community has not met the standard of producing “adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy…” as required by their regulations. Marijuana is currently a Schedule 1 drug in America and any studies must be done with the approval of the DEA, an agency prone to denying the scientific community’s requests.
This assessment of a lack of medical proof, based on a report by the Department of Health and Human Services, forced the court to conclude, “something more than ‘peer-reviewed’ studies is required to satisfy DEA’s standard…” Eighteen states, including California, Michigan, Washington and Colorado, have approved the use of medical marijuana for their citizens despite the DEA’s objections.
Schedule 1 is a DEA classification reserved for substances with the highest risk of abuse and no demonstrable medical use. Activists have been trying to either remove marijuana from the controlled substances listing completely or to reclassify it as a less dangerous drug- a listing that would allow the kind of scientific studies the DEA has blocked for well over a decade. ASA says the “research approval process for marijuana… is unique, overly rigorous, and hinders meaningful therapeutic research.”
The 2011 petition filed with the DEA came after a nearly decade-long stalemate. The CRC petitioned the DEA in October 2002 to reschedule cannabis as a Schedule III, IV, or V drug; it took the DEA until July 8, 2011, to reject the petition- and that was only after a lawsuit forced them to make a decision. In their written denial the DEA states there is “no currently accepted medical use for marijuana in the United States…”.
In a written statement, ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford vowed to appeal the decision. “To deny that sufficient evidence is lacking on the medical efficacy of marijuana is to ignore a mountain of well-documented studies that conclude otherwise,” he said in the ASA press release. That organization promises an “En Banc review by the full D.C. Circuit and, if necessary, the organization will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
This time the legal target will be a different “arbitrary and capricious” action- that of “using continually changing standards of “medical efficacy” in order to maintain marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance,” per their Release. ASA calls attention to a pending comprehensive public health bill and a national conference in Washington, D.C. in February as rallying points for further action.
ASA's Press Release from January 22, 2013: http://americansforsafeaccess.org/article.php?id=7474
Other articles of interest:
Three Blind Mice
"When we the people ask the Obama Administration why they will not reschedule marijuana, they point to science. When we challenge the scientists, they point to the DEA as a restrictor of access for experimentation. When we confront the DEA, they point to policymakers in Washington and the Department of Justice."- Rick Thompson
ASA Hearings in D.C.- An Update
"We remain hopeful that the science on medical marijuana will prevail over politics in order to overcome the decades-long effort by the federal government to keep marijuana out of the reach of millions of Americans who would benefit from its use."- ASA
Federal Sentencing of Legally Compliant Medical Marijuana Providers Highlights Harmful Obama Policy
"A federal lawsuit to force the DEA to reclassify marijuana for medical use will be heard by the D.C. Circuit on October 16th. The case Americans for Safe Access v. DEA is bringing the science of medical marijuana into federal court for the first time in nearly 20 years. If marijuana were reclassified, the five people being sentenced in Michigan would be entitled to a medical defense, a right they are now denied."- ASA
 
NaturalTherapy

NaturalTherapy

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It's joke isn't funny anymore
 
squiggly

squiggly

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I'm just trying to figure out when the DEA started hiring on scientists to judge the results of academic studies.

What a FUCKING crock.

Apparently a criminal justice degree or law enforcement experience now qualifies you as a scientist.

As it turns out, I've been pursuing the wrong degree this whole time, silly me.
 
oscar169

oscar169

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gavel-marijuana-300.jpg

Americans for Safe Access will seek En Banc review, continue fight to develop public health policy
Washington, DC – The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling today in the medical marijuana reclassification case, Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration. In a 2-1 decision, the Court granted standing in the case — the right to bring a claim against the federal government — but denied the legal challenge on the merits, agreeing with the government’s assertion that “adequate and well-controlled studies” on the medical efficacy of marijuana do not exist.
“To deny that sufficient evidence is lacking on the medical efficacy of marijuana is to ignore a mountain of well-documented studies that conclude otherwise,” said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy organization, which appealed the denial of the rescheduling petition in January of last year. “The Court has unfortunately agreed with the Obama Administration’s unreasonably raised bar on what qualifies as an ‘adequate and well-controlled’ study, thereby continuing their game of ‘Gotcha.’”
ASA intends to seek En Banc review by the full D.C. Circuit and,necessary, the organization will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ASA intends to argue that the Obama Administration has acted arbitrarily and capriciously by using continually changing standards of “medical efficacy” in order to maintain marijuana as a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The government now contends that Stage II and III clinical trials are necessary to show efficacy, while ASA has consistently argued that the more than 200 peer-reviewed studies cited in the legal briefs adequately meet this standard.
In 2002, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, made up of several individuals and organizations including ASA, filed a petition to reclassify marijuana for medical use. That petition was denied in July 2011, after ASA sued the Obama Administration for unreasonable delaying the answer. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit was the first time in nearly 20 years that a federal court has reviewed the issue of whether adequate scientific evidence exists to reclassify marijuana.
“The Obama Administration’s legal efforts will keep marijuana out of reach for millions of qualified patients who would benefit from its use,” continued Elford. “It’s time for President Obama to change his harmful policy with regard to medical marijuana and treat this as a public health issue, something entirely within the capability and authority of the executive office.”
Patient advocates claim that marijuana is treated unlike any other controlled substance and that politics have dominated over medical science on this issue. Advocates point to a research approval process for marijuana, controlled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is unique, overly rigorous, and hinders meaningful therapeutic research. ASA argues in its appeal brief that the DEA has no “license to apply different criteria to marijuana than to other drugs, ignore critical scientific data, misrepresent social science research, or rely upon unsubstantiated assumptions, as the DEA has done in this case.”
ASA will continue to put pressure on the Obama Administration, but will also be lobbying Members of Congress to reclassify marijuana for medical use. A new comprehensive public health bill on medical marijuana is expected to be introduced soon in Congress, and ASA is holding a national conference in February to support its passage.
Further information:
Today’s D.C. Circuit decision: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/DC_Circuit_Ruling_ASA_v_DEA.pdf
ASA appeal brief: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/CRC_Appeal.pdf
CRC rescheduling petition: http://www.drugscience.org/PDF/Petition_Final_2002.pdf
Press Release From Americans for Safe Access. With over 50,000 active members in all 50 states, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers
 
squiggly

squiggly

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Seriously, if I knew I could take what is essentially what is the most retardedly simple major on the entire planet and be considered a scientist--why the fuck would I have wasted all my time with shit like differential equations and other dogshit classes like that.

Who knew I could be taking a glorified comm degree without any required public speaking and meeting all of the same career aspirations as the fun-ending degree programs I have completed/am currently enrolled in.

What a fucking joke, and the average Joe doesn't even see the problem with it.

These guys don't know a substituted ring structure from their butthole with dingleberries. Its shameful that they are even allowed to say the word science in a court of law.

I wonder if I can go testify on the behalf of some murderer as a blood spatter analyst and just make it up as I go along. Who fucking cares about experts? Who needs those guys anyway--when we in our ultimate law enforcement knowledge know about biochemistry more than the biochemists do.

This shit, and other shit like it in this country, has to be stopped.

Just for a second, damn the weed--this kind of shit cannot be passable in courts, regardless of the topic.

An expert is an expert, and a layman and a layman. When it comes to considerations like this one in a court of law--there is NO FUCKING ROOM FOR CONFUSION.
 
squiggly

squiggly

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I'm just so fucking sick of people not being outraged when people trample on the truth simply because they don't like it.

Don't for a second think that we're all blameless in this--we ALLLLLLLL do this, it is a culture issue. These guys just happen to be doing it in an instance that we all care about.

The best thing that can come out of this (since the decisions has been offered already) is that people realize they are guilty of doing the same thing in their everyday lives.
 
reeldrag

reeldrag

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I agree completly squiggly these SOB's have been stomping on the truth for years and hard sci data means nothing to them wether its about pot, guns, music, red meat whatever if they dont like it the rest of the world wont get it. Im so fucking sick of these elitist aholes telling me what I can eat drink smoke watch on tv ect Im over it we all need to stand up and say enough is enough!!!!!
 
Capulator

Capulator

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This is a game the MAN is playing. All of what I have read over the years points to the MAN controlling the trade. If it goes medical, all bets are off. Lots of jobs persecuting potheads will be up in smoke. Money, money, money , money , money.

THE MAN doesn't love you, he only wants to eat you.
 
Capulator

Capulator

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18 states already. 2 legal for recreation. All in the past 10 years. Give it another 10. When it's 50 states med and 20 legal for rec...

Then it will be very difficult to control the will of the people.
 
Pakalolo Laau

Pakalolo Laau

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Marinol really sucked. Never even worked for me after I took 2. What a waste of money. Then again..... a few fatties and I'm pain free.
 
Texas Kid

Texas Kid

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The thing about Marinol is that you can use it throw a false positive on a drug test and since Marinol is a FDA approved drug that has an actual prescription from your doctor associated with it, not a recommendation, so it is all good...basically when they ask you in your drug pre-test screening if you are takin any prescription drugs, you put marinol..so a positive test for THC is tossed....
 
Oil Dragon

Oil Dragon

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The thing about Marinol is that you can use it throw a false positive on a drug test and since Marinol is a FDA approved drug that has an actual prescription from your doctor associated with it, not a recommendation, so it is all good...basically when they ask you in your drug pre-test screening if you are takin any prescription drugs, you put marinol..so a positive test for THC is tossed....
wish I would have known that in the past :cool:
 
S

Stoneman

4
3
Assigning the study to the DEA is nuts. Asking an old entrenched bureaucracy to tell the truth about something that impacts their jobs, and of course marijuana has no legitimate use, its illegal, cant you see! DOH!

Stupid voters, stupid politics and bought politicians. Its a joke made up long ago. A whiff of the 1970s. And we taxpayers are paying for this lying sham they call science.

Our democracy is broken. Blame the revolving door, the lobbyists and congresspeople, and the monied interests.
 
squiggly

squiggly

3,277
263
Step 1:
Get a barf bag and a glass of water.

Step 2:
Mentally prepare yourself to become physically Ill.
Step 3:
Read this discussion of cannabis in medicine put together by ACTUAL MEDICAL EXPERTS:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202504/

Step 4:
Riot uncontrollably.


Instead of including the Abstract, I'll include the conclusion here:

Many drugs used today can cause addiction and are misused and abused, for example opiates,cocaine, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, cholinergic agonists, ketamine, dopaminergic agonists, amphetamines, and others. Nevertheless they are still an important part of our pharmacopeia. Marijuana was used for centuries as a medicinal plant, but during the last century, because of its abuse and addictive potential it was taken out of clinical practice. Now, we believe that its constituents and related compounds should be brought back to clinical use. The reasons are: (i) the therapeutic potential of CB1 agonists is huge, as described in this review; (ii) for local action, topical CB1 agonists, or agonists that do not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, can be used; (iii) cannabinoids acting specifically on CB2 receptors, which cause no psychoactivity, may be used on peripheral targets (such as osteoporosis, which is only one of many examples); (iv) there are additional, new cannabinoid targets distinct from the CB1/CB2 receptors which do not cause psychoactivity; (v) there are cannabinoids, such as CBD, which do not cause psychoactivity, but have various therapeutic effects.

The endocannabinoid system is a very complex one and regulates numerous processes, in parallel with other wellknown systems, such as the adrenergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic systems. Neglecting the potential clinical uses of such a system is, in our view, unacceptable; instead we need to work on more selective agonists/antagonists, more selective distribution patterns, and in cases where it is impossible to separate between the desired clinical action and the psychoactivity, to monitor these side effects carefully.
 
Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt

5
3
The thing about Marinol is that you can use it throw a false positive on a drug test and since Marinol is a FDA approved drug that has an actual prescription from your doctor associated with it, not a recommendation, so it is all good...basically when they ask you in your drug pre-test screening if you are takin any prescription drugs, you put marinol..so a positive test for THC is tossed....
Ive used marinol for this before but here in the south its allmost impossible to get,I had cancer at that time.They are about 15 bucks a pill
 

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