[Bud Hi]

https://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/..._marijuana_med

WTF! I got to read this! TY for the post.

[Sam the Caveman]

Please when posting news articles, post the whole article and not just a link. Some folks don't like clicking the link, including myself.

"DEA Finally Admits Marijuana is Medicine"

by Scott Morgan, March 01, 2011, 02:04am
Posted in:

* Medical Marijuana

https://stopthedrugwar.org/files/marinol.png

If you thought they were going to issue a formal apology after decades of flagrant dishonesty, you would be mistaken. But the DEA is at long last conceding marijuana's incredible medical value…by giving pharmaceutical companies exclusive permission to make pills out of it.

"[M]arijuana has no scientifically proven medical value." So stated the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on page six of a July 2010 agency white paper, titled "DEA Position on Marijuana."

Yet only four months after the agency committed its "no medical pot" stance to print, it announced its intent to allow for the regulation and marketing of pharmaceutical products containing plant-derived THC -- the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. (Alternet)


DEA can try to frame this any way they like, but the bottom line remains that authorizing cultivation for pharmaceutical companies is the end of the debate. Over. Done. Whatever nuanced distinctions the enemies of medical marijuana seek to advance from this point forward will be devastated by the simple fact that new medicines are being made out of marijuana with the blessing of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Conspiracy theories will abound, of course, regarding the potential for a widespread campaign to shut down state-level medical marijuana programs and instead shove expensive pills down the throats of patients, while arresting providers and cultivators who refuse to comply. That isn't going to happen. As much as the DEA and their corporate co-conspirators might fantasize about it, a full-scale assault on the medical cannabis industry is simply impossible from both a practical and political standpoint. These laws were put in place by the people and they won't be done away with over our objections.

On the contrary, the emergence of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals has real potential to vest corporate interests with a stake in the drug's overall reputation. Rather than distancing themselves from the origins of their products, manufacturers of THC-based medications will recognize that associating their product with marijuana is in fact a shrewd marketing ploy. Marinol has already done exactly that. People love pot and that's going to be the key to selling these pills. As a result, we could soon be witnessing a seemingly impossible scenario in which pharmaceutical companies actually share our frustration when some drug war idiot comes along claiming THC causes schizophrenia.

Obviously, it's unlikely that our goals will ever align perfectly with those of the pharmaceutical industry, but they're clearly better at working with the DEA than we'll ever be. Rather than viewing the situation as a threat to our continued progress, I think we need to recognize that various forms of industrialization will be the inevitable result of our hard work to de-stigmatize the drug. As that process unfolds, we'll encounter numerous new and interesting opportunities to reframe the conversation about the dangers of marijuana. Even if this latest move by DEA is nothing more than a cynical attempt to thwart our progress somehow, I imagine it will backfire just as surely as every other tactic they've deployed in the drug war debate thus far.

[Sam the Caveman]

Yeah, so I don't see whats new, marinol has been around for a long time even with THC still being classified as a schedule 1 drug by the DEA. I guess now the DEA is allowing pharmaceutical companies to actually grow their own vs. synthetic manufacture of THC.

[TB Gardens]

nice link, ya someone posted a link the other day saying DEA is reclassifying MJ so pharmy co's could do this. And Moonshine* talked a month or so ago about how is lawyer was telling him there were 3 major pharmy co's that have applied for licensing in CO and will receive permits and licenses to build facilities this summer.

i can't figure out if having pharmy co's get involved is going to be a good or bad thing. like the article said, they know how to deal with the DEA and gov't to get what they want, but that doesn't mean what they want is what we want. i think everyone is playing out the scenario in their head... DEA lets pharmy do their thing, pharmy gets a taste and sees $$, realizes the actual market value of their product, then move to shut down mom and pop (small grower & dispensary) ops.

no one is making pills in their basement and selling them to patients.

[DεvíLδck]

Yeah we better not legalize it cause big business might get the upper hand. Oh wait that didn't need to happen. Good luck cali your gonna need it.

[cirog]

The hypocrisy of these government institutions is disheartening. How can an organization that is supposed to protect its people change their mind on what they had classified as one of the most dangerous drugs with their schedule 1 classification. Oh yeah, they want to make money for the government, I forgot.

[Sam the Caveman]

I'm guessing big pharma will grow plants to take extractions and analyze each different extraction for its medicinal value. When they find one that can be used effectively they will synthesize it and offer a pill with one or maybe two specific chemicals. I don't think they will ever produce buds marketed directly to the consumer. Thats just what I think, so.

[TB Gardens]

ya im sorry if i wasn't clear in my post, im a pot head. that is exactly what i feel will happen Sam. I was just saying, they may open the door for us initially, but they are probably going to slam that door shut here real soon after they realize what they got. The pills will go to market and small OP MMJ co's will be "stealing" their market share, so the pharmy co's will move to have MMJ regulated so only big co can produce it.

i was trying to use the current medical industry as an example, there are no mom and pop pill factories running in basements. thats all.

Originally Posted by Sam the Caveman

I'm guessing big pharma will grow plants to take extractions and analyze each different extraction for its medicinal value. When they find one that can be used effectively they will synthesize it and offer a pill with one or maybe two specific chemicals. I don't think they will ever produce buds marketed directly to the consumer. That's just what I think, so.

Definately not. What they want is a controlled dose delivery method that is equal to or close to the benefits of natural cannabis without the high. This is where big pharma can fit in. Some guy in the comments section touched on this (and some things that were a bit in left field), but this could be a happy coexistence. Big Pharma could conceivably produce a med only version for people who want more monitored dosage and effect, and this would potentially leave room for a legal recreational market as well. Big Pharma's version would be something not easily produced at home so they have a market based on but independent of natural cannabis.

It is hard to guess how the current medical scene would be effected if this was in fact a precursor to federal recreational mj legalization as the article implies. Would current medical and rec merge? I think the medical position on MMJ is always going to be that it is good medicine but that the inhaled smoke delivery method is far from ideal. I think if a product like sativex works, and it is available, then many doctors would prefer their patients use that.

So as much as I like the wrinkle this article sheds on this news (The article I read on NORML about it was not so up-beat), I still wonder how this might all shake out. Seems a bit of a double edged sword to me!