Medical Cannabis Journal

October 6th, 2011,  Mark Pedersen, Medical Cannabis Journal

I heard Steve DeAngelo speak at the last Patients Out of Time Conference that was held in Providence. Rhode Island this past year.  He's an interesting man devoted to his work. 

What has happened to Harborside, though regrettable and terribly tragic for those patients that rely on it, is far from being a surprise.  The fact is, the only thing that has kept the state and Federal Governments from locking down ALL of the dispensaries in Cali and the other states with cannabis programs has been the sheer number of participants in their medical cannabis programs. 

State and Federal Governments have always been afraid of the masses.  We're the majority.  That make US the masses.

The overriding truth is that NO state with a medical cannabis program has removed cannabis from their list of controlled substances.  Moreover, in all but one so-called "legal" state (Oregon), cannabis is listed as a Schedule I drug. 

The passage of Prop. 215 did not affect the Scheduling of cannabis in California.  All it did was create a grand experiment, not unlike the Federal Government's "Investigational New Drug Program".

In the 1970's, the IND Program was started.  This program provides cannabis to a small number (four surviving) of chronically and terminally ill patients for the treatment of their illnesses.  Admission to this program was closed in 1991 by George Bush, Senior, amid an ever escalating number of new applicants.

The industry that sprung from Prop. 215 was apparently not foreseen by California's lawmakers or the population at large.  Nor did they even imagine the demand.  In the short time since its inception, it was quickly realized that there were far more than just a few scattered hippies willing to call themselves "patients".

In every state that has a medical cannabis program, you will see the words "not-for-profit", "compassion", "clinic", "dispensary", and such.  But disguised behind most of it is a "for-profit" business.  America wants cannabis and doesn't mind a few white lies along the way if in the end "we have our medicine".   

But in our zeal, we have catered to the profiteers, while risking the lives of those our most vulnerable, in whose name we established the medical cannabis programs in the first place.  Though for all the right reasons, a lie is still a lie.  The truth will always win out eventually and someone will have to pay a penalty for the trickery.  Unfortunately, it is almost always the well-meaning, the weak and the innocent who pay the price.

You see, you can't have it both ways.  Either cannabis is medicine or it is not.   Either cannabis is non-toxic, or it is not.   But that is EXACTLY what they have in California.  A paradox. 

If a business opened up across the street from your home and started selling heroin, it would concern you, wouldn't it?  Of course it would. 

You would fully expect law enforcement to shut it down and arrest the lawbreakers.  Heroin is a "controlled substance".  It's a Schedule I drug with "no medicinal value".  Right?  Well, so is cannabis. 

Cannabis is a Schedule I drug in all but one of the 16 states that currently have a medical cannabis program. 

And, please understand that though Oregon did move cannabis to a Schedule 2, that  only changed it from being the same as heroin to being the same as cocaine.  Who really expects local governments to be ok with Schedule II drugs being produced in suburban homes?

So we have a billion dollar industry that operates under the  "not-for-profit" moniker, producing and distributing a substance that is not only considered a "harmful, dangerous drug" by the Federal Government, but also by the very state where it is being distributed and consumed. 

If you know your Prohibition history, this should remind you of the fierce struggle that the Feds fought against organized crime  so long ago.  Little doubt why the IRS is stepping in now, not unlike the way they did during the last prohibition.

So what's the solution?  I and many others have been preaching the answer for quite some time now.  We must remove cannabis ENTIRELY from the list of controlled substances in EVERY state.  Cannabis is NON-TOXIC.  Consequently is cannot be called a "controlled substance".

This is monumentally important if we ever wish to see safe, legal cannabis available to every person who needs it, without the risk of state and Federal persecution.

If cannabis would have been removed from California's list of controlled substances, not only would it's dispensaries have been safe from DEA raids, their Attorney General would have been obligated to defend them against any such persecution.

I'm sure it was thought by many activists that the many overwhelmingly positive testimonies from patients would seal the fate of prohibition, but unfortunately, identifying a bad law does not automatically erase it from the books. 

This is exactly why, while we were writing Missouri's 2012 "Cannabis Regulation" Initiative, I insisted on nothing short of complete removal of cannabis from our state's drug Scheduling. 

There are currently seven states (California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Missouri) that are hoping to seek full legalization on the ballot in 2012.  This, if successful, along with the national effort by the Coalition for Rescheduling, will seal the fate of cannabis prohibition, once and for all.

But let there be no misunderstanding. There are no short cuts.  For the sake of our nation's chronically and terminally ill, for the sake of all who would benefit from this most needful holistic herb, we can pursue nothing less.