Some of you may be familiar with Dr. Gupta, one of CNN's docs.
He's invested some time in to the merits of classifying marijuana as a Class 1 narcotic. His findings are interesting, and he's changed his mind on opposing classifying it as a medically beneficial.
QuoteOn August 14, 1970, the Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg wrote a letter recommending the plant, marijuana, be classified as a schedule 1 substance, and it has remained that way for nearly 45 years. My research started with a careful reading of that decades old letter. What I found was unsettling. Egeberg had carefully chosen his words:
"Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marijuana be retained within schedule 1 at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue."
Not because of sound science, but because of its absence, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 substance. Again, the year was 1970. Egeberg mentions studies that are underway, but many were never completed. As my investigation continued, however, I realized Egeberg did in fact have important research already available to him, some of it from more than 25 years earlier.
More at the link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Someone, somewhere, did a history of hemp in the US. IIRC it was posited that hemp/weed was made illegal due to many things - few legitimate, but one thing that stuck to mind was that hemp competed with cotton and the cotton industry lobbied hard to get rid of it.
Quote from: LongBlade on August 08, 2013, 03:19:06 PM
Some of you may be familiar with Dr. Gupta, one of CNN's docs.
He's invested some time in to the merits of classifying marijuana as a Class 1 narcotic. His findings are interesting, and he's changed his mind on opposing classifying it as a medically beneficial.
QuoteOn August 14, 1970, the Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg wrote a letter recommending the plant, marijuana, be classified as a schedule 1 substance, and it has remained that way for nearly 45 years. My research started with a careful reading of that decades old letter. What I found was unsettling. Egeberg had carefully chosen his words:
"Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marijuana be retained within schedule 1 at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue."
Not because of sound science, but because of its absence, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 substance. Again, the year was 1970. Egeberg mentions studies that are underway, but many were never completed. As my investigation continued, however, I realized Egeberg did in fact have important research already available to him, some of it from more than 25 years earlier.
More at the link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
All drugs should be at least decriminalized, and DEA disbanded.
Or, at least folded into the ATF.
I saw Dr. Gupta's article yesterday. It surprised me as I never knew that he was opposed to decriminalization.
They had an article up on Cracked yesterday which detailed some common preconceptions about drugs. It was mostly a thinly veilled indictment of alcohol but it did show that marijuana was nowhere near as benign as the pro-weed crowd would have you believe.
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on August 09, 2013, 01:34:58 PM
They had an article up on Cracked yesterday which detailed some common preconceptions about drugs. It was mostly a thinly veilled indictment of alcohol but it did show that marijuana was nowhere near as benign as the pro-weed crowd would have you believe.
all pharmaceuticals, legal and not, have consequences and side effects