Drug Policy Alliance Says DEA Obstructs Cannabis Research, Should Be Stripped Of Power
“The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding and Rejecting Science,” released by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and DPA, calls on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to end its “unjustifiable” monopoly of the supply of research grade marijuana available for federally approved research.
According to the report, the DEA has maintained marijuana’s classification as a harmful drug with no medical benefits despite scientific evidence to the contrary and has also obstructed research that could lead to the substance’s reclassification.
“The DEA impedes research by abusing its discretionary powers over the scheduling process, making it difficult to obtain marijuana for research purposes. We recommend taking away the DEA’s power over drug scheduling and access to drugs for research,” Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the DPA.
The DEA has ignored calls to reschedule marijuana, which is currently called a ‘Schedule 1’ drug meaning it has no known medical value and is on par with drugs like heroin and crack.
“The DEA has created a Catch-22 — saying that the FDA didn’t approve marijuana therefore it’s bogus, while at the same time obstructing FDA research necessary for approval,” Jag Davies, publications manager for DPA, said. He added that no other drug is treated like marijuana, which is available only from a single government source, the DEA, for research purposes.
“The notion that the DEA has not thought about reconsidering scheduling of marijuana seems to be against scientific evidence and what we’re trying to do as a society that relies on empirical evidence to make decisions,” Hart added.
While the DEA continues to argue there is insufficient evidence to support rescheduling marijuana, it systematically impedes scientific research that could prove otherwise, the report said.
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That is because many prominent individuals in government, from DEA agents to state Governors, for example, Jan Brewer of Arizona. Governor Brewer did not approve of proposition 200 to legalize cannabis for medical use after the majority of citizens passed the proposition. Governor Brewer is also a share holder of at least one private prison facility located in Kingman, Arizona.
If you legalize cannabis for medical use, or any use for that matter, the shareholders of private prisons would see a drop in the number of inmates, which would directly correlate to a loss in profits.
Prisons have become big business in this country. Just look at how many individuals are incarcerated in the U.S. Then look closer at the percentage of that total number that are incarcerated specifically for drug law violations, specifically cannabis.
As long as prisons are allowed to be privatized, open to outside investors looking for personal financial gain, don’t expect anything to change.
This further goes to show that the “holy dollar” rules in America, where profits are more important than any science, empathy for suffering patients, or just plain common sense.
They’ll continue to beat this dead horse until the corpse is in such a state of decay that it is literally falling apart…. Don’t expect to find anyone of integrity or one with an upright spine amongst the bunch…. Hey, come on, these are the same individuals we elected to represent us, the citizens. They should be held to a higher standard of character. When it is time to look for someone to blame, one should travel no further than to find the closest mirror. At least half of the blame falls upon those who voted for the current representatives as well as those who did not vote at all. Good luck and wishful thinking to you all…….you’ll need it!