Senators will introduce a federal medical marijuana bill tomorrow [TUES]

aridbud · Mar 9, 2015

By Sean O'Kane on March 9, 2015 05:31 pm

Kirsten Gillibrand, Rand Paul, and Cory Booker will introduce a Senate bill to legalize medical marijuana under federal law tomorrow, various outlets are reporting. This bill would mark an unprecedented push to legalize medical use drug on a federal level. We've seen a handful of states (and the nation's capital) legalize recreational marijuana over the last two years, and about half the states have a medical marijuana program, but the proposal — called the "Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act" — would be the widest attempt at legalization yet.

THE BILL WOULD BE THE FIRST OF ITS KIND

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/9/8177255/federal-medical-marijuana-law

Vox is reporting that the bill will also attempt to reclassify marijuana from Schedule 1 to 2. Schedule 1 drugs are considered dangerous with no medical value, while Schedule 2 classification would recognize marijuana's medical benefits.

The bill would theoretically build on an important step that was taken back in December; Congress included a measure in the 2015 fiscal spending bill that effectively stopped the federal government from targeting medical marijuana operations in states where they were allowed. It's also worth noting that this bill will hit the floor with bipartisan support — Booker and Gillibrand are liberal Democrats while Paul is extremely conservative. (Though Paul has shown support for legalization in the past.) We'll find out whether that support will translate to the rest of the Senate tomorrow when the bill is officially announced at at 12:30PM press conference.

It's about time to change antiquated laws regarding Scheduled substances. Let's see if it's real....

Tudo · Mar 10, 2015

While I would not trust rand paul to throw him after what he did to Dr Paul, I guess any help is better than no help.

Boyd Crowder · Mar 10, 2015

Great news - I find it hard to wrap my head around.
Snowballs chance, but hey this will be the first of many and eventually, sucessful attempts

aridbud · Mar 10, 2015

It's a start, IF it's true. Maybe states are finally realizing there is tax money to recoup if it can be legit.

LuvBuds · Mar 10, 2015

I will believe it when I see it..Congress keeps pissing me off. Getting my hopes up for this would probably ensure its failure.

paper thorn · Mar 10, 2015

I still can't see what good schedule 2 is for us. Maybe at first they would let it stay like it is in some med states, but eventually it will have to be regulated like a schedule 2 drug... you know like methamphetamine or any scehdule 2 drug that docs prescribe. The future will be pills and patches with flowers being illegal.

I think it kills recreational. Have you ever heard of recreational schedule 2 drugs?

But it sounds good, so we'll vote for our own destruction.

mingmen · Mar 10, 2015

paper thorn said:
I still can't see what good schedule 2 is for us. Maybe at first they would let it stay like it is in some med states, but eventually it will have to be regulated like a schedule 2 drug... you know like methamphetamine or any scehdule 2 drug that docs prescribe. The future will be pills and patches with flowers being illegal.

I think it kills recreational. Have you ever heard of recreational schedule 2 drugs?

But it sounds good, so we'll vote for our own destruction.

I can't see how that is the outcome of this. If the feds relax medical regs then recreational will be rolled back? Is there a historical precedent you are comparing this to?

armedoldhippy · Mar 10, 2015

if it becomes federally legal for medical use, it will be more widespread than ever, with virtually everyone in the country exposed to its benefits through friends, neighbors, & anecdotal evidence. as is usually the case, "mission creep" will slip in, and it will be okayed for more & more uses(off label) as folks get more comfortable. when it is ok to treat various maladies for it, they will be pressured into dropping it from drug testing. when they are not testing for it, more folks get/keep jobs. I fail to see how this can be anything other than a win for sanity. even if the hardliners try to hold out against smoking, the inability to tell smoked from ingested in drug tests will save your job. :woohoo:

armedoldhippy · Mar 10, 2015

paper thorn said:
I think it kills recreational. Have you ever heard of recreational schedule 2 drugs? But it sounds good, so we'll vote for our own destruction.

most "recreational" drugs are sch. 1 now. how do you think we will destroy ourselves by making them medically legal? it will NOT make them MORE illegal...we need more voters exposed to the fact that, compared to alcohol & tobacco, cannabis is startlingly safe. education of the undecided voter is the key to our cells... :tiphat:

oldchuck · Mar 10, 2015

Cocaine and meth are schedule 2, I think.

The difference between medical and recreational may disappear. I'm thinking there will be a dividing line between the plant and things manufactured from the plant. One reason why people pay more for a pharmaceutical is the chain of guarantees you get by law or regulation: Government must approve expensive testing by drug companies then supposedly highly controlled manufacturing and then further regulated medical professionals must write a scrip and the pharmacist who dispenses faces further licensing and regulation. That's a lot of added costs, not to mention profits and jobs.

Maybe, though, they will let you buy bud at the farmer's market without all that.

mr.brunch · Mar 10, 2015

Watching this one.
Dangerous drug with no medical benefits??
Ready to eat a big fuckin slice of humble pie?

stasis · Mar 10, 2015

My state wants to monopolize the Cannabis industry - disallowing HOME GROWS.

As soon as the Schedule is changed, they are slated to go ahead with this misguided plan.

But, it won't affect Me at all. I hope it all happens.

armedoldhippy · Mar 10, 2015

mr.brunch said:
Watching this one.
Dangerous drug with no medical benefits??
Ready to eat a big fuckin slice of humble pie?

yup, and I hope they fucking CHOKE on it trying to swallow... :biggrin:

bootea · Mar 10, 2015

schedule 2 conflict

schedule 2 conflict

paper thorn said:
I still can't see what good schedule 2 is for us. Maybe at first they would let it stay like it is in some med states, but eventually it will have to be regulated like a schedule 2 drug... you know like methamphetamine or any scehdule 2 drug that docs prescribe. The future will be pills and patches with flowers being illegal.

I think it kills recreational. Have you ever heard of recreational schedule 2 drugs?

But it sounds good, so we'll vote for our own destruction.

I would think a law legalizing medical marijuana federally would conflict with the regulations of a schedule two drug, if the law allows patients to grow their own. I agree with paper thorn it would still be illegal except for pharmaceuticals . That would lead to a lot of conflict with the free recreational States and existing MMJ States. Its got to go to a less regulated schedule or no schedule at all. The Drug companies and the FDA might take a long time putting it to market a well.

It might be a much stronger platform to be to be pushing for legalization though. Maybe just that conflict would move things along a bit quicker.

Guess we need to read the proposed law.

Changing schedule could be done by executive order at anytime.

Boyd Crowder · Mar 10, 2015

Live stream of the news conference happening now -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTPi5lpXqOE

Betterhaff · Mar 10, 2015

What’s in the historic medical marijuana bill being unveiled

The historic medical marijuana bill a trio of senators plan to unveil on Tuesday has a bit of something for everyone.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

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The bill, which activists describe as a first for the Senate, would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana and implement a number of critical reforms that advocates of both medical and recreational marijuana have been seeking for years, according to several people familiar with the details of the proposal. It would reclassify the drug in the eyes of the Drug Enforcement Administration, allow for limited inter-state transport of the plant, expand access to cannabis for research, and make it easier for doctors to recommend the drug to veterans and easier for banks to provide services to the industry.<o

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“It’s the most comprehensive medical marijuana bill in Congress,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, one of several groups consulted for the bill. The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act grew out of an amendment proposed last year by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and is being introduced by those two senators in conjunction with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) at a 12:30 p.m. press conference.<o

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A number of activist organizations deeply involved with passing medical and recreational marijuana laws at the state level were consulted in drafting the bill, including the Drug Policy Alliance, the Marijuana Policy Project, and Americans for Safe Access. And advocates say they are generally pleased with what they’ve seen and heard.<o

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“It really is a comprehensive bill—it would effectively end the federal war on medical marijuana,” said Tom Angell, chairman of the advocacy group Marijuana Majority.<o

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But the bill has its detractors. Dr. Kevin Sabet, director of the University of Florida’s Drug Policy Institute and an assistant professor there, says that while better research and non-smoked medications are necessary, the bill overreaches.<o

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“It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” he said by e-mail. “Why not start work with scientists to incentivize research rather than open the floodgates to Big Marijuana? Most major medical organizations oppose smoked pot as medicine because the risks outweigh any benefits. This bill just isn’t supported by the science, plain and simple.”<o

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The following are five of the bill’s key provisions, according to several people familiar with it.<o

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1.Under the bill, marijuana would be downgraded one level in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s five-category drug classification system. It is currently treated, along with heroin, LSD, and ecstasy, as a Schedule 1 drug—those deemed by the DEA to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The bill would reclassify it as a Schedule 2 drug, joining cocaine, OxyContin, Adderall and Ritalin.<o

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2.The bill would also make it easier to transport some marijuana between states. While medical marijuana is allowed in 23 states and D.C., another dozen states allow the drug on a much more limited basis. Those states typically allow restricted access to medicine derived from marijuana strains with low levels of THC, the drug’s primary psychoactive component, and high levels of CBD, which is believed to have medicinal benefits. But patients often have no way of accessing such drugs, so the proposed bill would ease restrictions on inter-state transport to facilitate access to such medicine.
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3.The bill would also make it easier for banks to provide services to the marijuana industry as they do to any other.<o

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4.It would reform the National Institute on Drug Abuse in order to broaden access to cannabis for research purposes.<o

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5.And it would allow doctors working for the Department of Veterans Affairs in states where medical marijuana is legal to recommend it for certain conditions.<o

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The historic bill represents another in a long string of victories for marijuana advocates, who have seen voters legalize the drug for recreational use in four states since 2012: Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Nearly half the states have legalized medical marijuana and the public support has been growing, with roughly half the nation supporting legalization according to several polls.<o

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The political winds have been shifting, too. Three potential Republican presidential candidates—Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and former Florida governor Jeb Bush—have come out in support of state legalization laws, though they’ve hedged on their personal support of such policies.<o

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The proposal will be unveiled at a 12:30 p.m. press conference on Tuesday and will be streamed live here. Patients, their families and advocates will join the senators at the press conference.

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Skip · Mar 10, 2015

This bill is absolutely necessary as the next step in Marijuana Legalization.

It's about time the Feds started to recognize the benefits of marijuana, and quit acting like it's the worst drug in the world...

aridbud · Mar 10, 2015

Skip said:
This bill is absolutely necessary as the next step in Marijuana Legalization.

It's about time the Feds started to recognize the benefits of marijuana, and quit acting like it's the worst drug in the world...

Couldn't have summed it up any better, Skip.

From several news sources, this seems to be happening. Wouldn't that be something (positive)?

hoss1111 · Mar 10, 2015

Canada ..... Take note.....

Midwest sticky · Mar 10, 2015

I don't know why but I think this one might actually pass.

Senators will introduce a federal medical marijuana bill tomorrow [TUES]

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