The drug law reform world needs more celebrities to come out in favor of marijuana legalization and ending the drug war. Yesterday I read a blog, by David Downs at SFGATE, that detailed how Justin Bieber supports marijuana law reform, and maybe even broader drug law reform efforts. Hopefully, Justin decides to give generously to the drug law reform efforts across the country.
David writes:
Medical marijuana just got a major new ally in the bruising election battle: pop music icon Justin Bieber.
Just in time to help swing pitched election fights for medical marijuana in Florida, and other states, Bieber called out prescription drug companies battling cannabis legalization Sunday, tweeting “This is important. … We all need to pay attention” and linking to a video summary of the issue.
In a video entitled “Big Pharma is literally paying to block medical marijuana.” the media group “attn:” recaps the hot news trend. Most recently, the makers of the drug that killed singer Prince donated $500,000 to defeat adult use cannabis legalization in Arizona. The drug company, Insys, makers of Fentanyl, has said in financial statements that legal cannabis threaten their plans to profit from generic marijuana in pill form.
In an SEC filing, she noted, Insys stated that “legalization of marijuana or non-synthetic cannabinoids in the United States could significantly limit the commercial success of our Dronabinol products … and our ability to generate revenue, and our business prospects, would be materially adversely affected.”
Numerous studies confirm cannabis can treat chronic pain, putting it in potential competition with opioid drug makers as well as others. States with medical marijuana laws have about 25 percent less opioid overdoses and less prescription drug use in general, new reports show. Cannabis is a schedule 1 drug deemed to have no medical use and a high potential for abuse.
“I’m going to be talking more about this,” Bieber tweeted.
Read the entire article here.
