Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
The drug czar's office tells a US senator a multi-agency review of marijuana will be "objective," protestors target Rep. Andy Harris over his opposition to allowing medical marijuana to treat opioid addiction, Ohio regulators take a first step toward banning kratom, and more.
Ohio regulators want to ban kratom. If they succeed, the state will be the seventh to have done so. (Creative Commons)
White House Vows Objective Marijuana Study, Colorado Senator Says. Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO) said Monday that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) has offered assurances that a federal marijuana policy panel will be objective and dispassionate as it reviews the impact of legalization in some states. The request for assurance came after Buzzfeed last month reported that the panel had asked 14 federal agencies and the DEA to submit "data demonstrating the most significant negative trends" about marijuana and its national "threat."
Michigan Bill to Ban Marijuana-Infused Alcohol Drinks Goes to Governor's Desk. The House on Tuesday approved House Bill 4668, which would bar the use, possession or sale of marijuana-infused beer, wine, liquor, and mixed drinks. That was the final legislative vote on the bill. The House had approved it earlier, then the Senate amended it, and now the House has approved those changes. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Rick Snyder (R). Foes of the bill say it addressed a problem that doesn't exist.
Medical Marijuana
Protestors Target Rep. Andy Harris Over Opposition to Using Medical Marijuana as Opioid Treatment. Red-capped protestors affiliated with the marijuana reform group DCMJ protested outside the office doors of Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) Tuesday. DCMJ said the protestors were there to protest his opposition to using medical marijuana as a treatment for the opioid crisis. After Harris refused to meet with them, as fellow protestors waved signs accusing Harris of working for "Big Pharma," two women laid down in the hallway to represent friends who had fatally overdosed. One of the women was temporarily handcuffed. The smell of marijuana wafted through the air. Harris later complained that: "Today's aggression by protesters who disagree with my position on the legalization of recreational marijuana demonstrates the problem with political discourse today. We all must agree to have a civilized debate when disagreement occurs. My parents fled communist Eastern Europe where people with different political opinions were harassed and punished, and it has no place in America."
Kratom
Ohio Moves to Ban Kratom. The state Board of Pharmacy voted Monday to classify kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance after it concluded that the drug has no accepted medical use, a high potential for abuse, and is a public health risk. The Monday vote begins a months-long process of approving new rules and regulations for kratom. The board has already received more than 1,500 comments about the proposed ban, mostly in opposition. Six other states and the District of Columbia have banned kratom: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Vermont, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. The board is accepting the first round of comments until October 18 at [email protected].
International
Jamaica Makes First Shipment of Medical Marijuana Extract to Canada. A shipment of medical marijuana extract oil has left Jamaica on route to Canada. The shipment was authorized through an import permit issued by the Canadian government via Health Canada and an export permit authorized by the Jamaican Ministry of Health. The shipment is the first step in Jamaica's bid to become a medical marijuana hub for the world.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
I got one word for the ONDCP
I got one word for the ONDCP and the White House: "Bullshit!"
The lying motherfuckers can bite me.
Harris is full of it
"Today's aggression by protesters who disagree with my position on the legalization of recreational marijuana"
Hunh? These demonstrators were protesting his stance on medical marijuana, Harris wants to maintain the prohibition on using medical marijuana as an aid in opiate addiction treatment, as part of his war on science. He's playing the lying demagogue pretending this was about recreational cannabis.
If Harris is worried about political aggression, he needs to start calling out Leader Trump for it, '100% for medical marijuana' Trump is the unquestioned U.S. master in inciting hatred and violence.
Harris can call this a political disagreement all he wants, but it's about who has basic human rights and who doesn't. Alcohol supremacism over FAR safer cannabis is naked aggression and bigotry, and the alcohol gang is very, very lucky that recreational and medicinal cannabis users don't believe in responding in kind to the despicable way they have been treated.
One problem with political discourse today is that rightwingers like Harris go on and on and on about freedom, but don't think cannabis users deserve any, and they ain't interested in anything even remotely resembling an honest discussion of the subject either, or in an honest recognition of where public opinion stands on the subject. They'll stonewall and dictate forever if they can.
In reply to Harris is full of it by saynotohypocrisy (not verified)
Agreed
I entirely agree with your comment.
Moreover, all cannabis is medical. The distinction between medical cannabis and recreational cannabis is political, not pharmaceutical. That artificial, political distinction between "medical" and "recreational" was created by OUR side (those who advocate for marijuana legalization) in order to calm the fears of those over-cautious voters who accept the fact that cannabis has medical value, but yet who still feel that, unless one is demonstrably sick or ill, and also able to document that ailment, marijuana use is somehow wrong.
That view is wrong-headed, in my opinion, because it is founded in making a judgment about the individual motives of each medical patient in question. (The strategy did achieve harm reduction goals, however, which did help real people, so I supported it at the time -- but have always been for FULL legalization, personally.) But again, all cannabis use is medical use, as a result of the pharmaceutical properties of the plant itself -- regardless of whether you were using it as medicine, using it to get "high", or just trying to get back at your parents!
And so, Harris is trying to exploit those unfounded fears.
What a Republican scumbag.
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