Federal agency recognizes pot for medical use It seems as if the government just lost its biggest legal tool in persecuting prosecuting Marijuana dispensaries in states where Medical Marijuana is legal.
Nice excerpts here:
Medical marijuana dispensaries currently under fire from the IRS may have been handed a critical new weapon in their fight to stay open. The National Cancer Institute, one of the many federal agencies who make up the National Institute of Health, has ruled that marijuana does in fact have medical benefits, making it the first federal agency to do so.
The NCI has issued a statement that in clinical trials, cancer patients successfully treated nausea and vomiting, sleeplessness, pain, and loss of appetite using marijuana. It stated that cannabis was being investigated as having not only a palliative effect on symptoms, but also a possible "direct antitumor effect".
From the Washington Independent:
The new NCI assessment could have an impact on the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the harshest possible drug classification, which has resulted in a prison population in which 1 in 8 prisoners in the U.S. is locked up for a marijuana-related offense. One of the principal criteria for a Schedule I determination is that there be “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” The U.S. Justice Department may have a hard time maintaining that claim if challenged, considering a federal agency now recognizes marijuana’s medical use in cancer treatment.
So, the effect of this ruling will be immediate? Now that a government agency has assigned medicinal value to marijuana, does that nullify any more prosecutions, or is there some form of appeal AG Holder will use to continue busting pot shops despite this ruling? If this development stands, this ruling will be remembered as a turning point in the phony War on Drugs, when rational opinions about Marijuana began to prevail, and the tide visibly began to turn..
Nice excerpts here:
Medical marijuana dispensaries currently under fire from the IRS may have been handed a critical new weapon in their fight to stay open. The National Cancer Institute, one of the many federal agencies who make up the National Institute of Health, has ruled that marijuana does in fact have medical benefits, making it the first federal agency to do so.
The NCI has issued a statement that in clinical trials, cancer patients successfully treated nausea and vomiting, sleeplessness, pain, and loss of appetite using marijuana. It stated that cannabis was being investigated as having not only a palliative effect on symptoms, but also a possible "direct antitumor effect".
From the Washington Independent:
The new NCI assessment could have an impact on the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the harshest possible drug classification, which has resulted in a prison population in which 1 in 8 prisoners in the U.S. is locked up for a marijuana-related offense. One of the principal criteria for a Schedule I determination is that there be “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” The U.S. Justice Department may have a hard time maintaining that claim if challenged, considering a federal agency now recognizes marijuana’s medical use in cancer treatment.
So, the effect of this ruling will be immediate? Now that a government agency has assigned medicinal value to marijuana, does that nullify any more prosecutions, or is there some form of appeal AG Holder will use to continue busting pot shops despite this ruling? If this development stands, this ruling will be remembered as a turning point in the phony War on Drugs, when rational opinions about Marijuana began to prevail, and the tide visibly began to turn..
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