The fact that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug is slap in the face to science, compassion, and logic. For something to be Schedule 1, it has to have no medical value. Marijuana clearly has medical value. This is proven by the fact that the federal government grows and supplies medical marijuana to four federal medical marijuana patients, and has for decades. The federal government also has medical marijuana patents. It may be the most hypocritical policy in government to say that marijuana should remain Schedule 1, and that’s saying a lot because the government is full of hypocrisy.
Doctors were in federal court yesterday making those arguments. Per Smell the Truth:
Doctors Carl Hart, Associate Professor of Psychology at Columbia University, retired physician Phillip Denny, and Greg Carter, Medical Director of St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane, Washington will testify Monday that marijuana — real name, “cannabis” — is not the demon drug the federal government makes it out to be. Accepted science does not justify the listing of cannabis as a dangerous “Schedule I” substance, many say.
“[I]t is my considered opinion that including marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act is counter to all the scientific evidence in a society that uses and values empirical evidence,” Dr. Hart declared. “After two decades of intense scientific inquiry in this area, it has become apparent the current scheduling of cannabis has no footing in the realities of science and neurobiology.”
This is an unprecedented hearing, writes cannabis law reform advocate Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML.
“This is the first time in recent memory that a federal judge has granted an evidentiary hearing on a motion challenging the statute which classifies cannabis to be one of the most dangerous illicit substances in the nation.”
The testimonies will keep going. I’m hopeful that the judge will see the truth, but I won’t hold my breath that there will be any action on this area of public policy. If the Obama administration truly wanted to re-schedule marijuana, the administration would have already. Obama knows this and Eric Holder knows this, despite Eric Holder’s recent comments that he would be ‘open to the idea.’
