Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's leading medical marijuana advocacy group, last Thursday filed an appeal challenging the Obama administration's recent decision to keep marijuana classified as a dangerous drug with no medicinal value. The appeal comes just two weeks after the DEA belatedly denied a 2002 petition seeking to have marijuana removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
In refusing to down-schedule marijuana, the DEA ignored the 1988 ruling of its own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young, who found, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." Since then, medical marijuana has been approved in 16 states and the District of Columbia, and the scientific literature on the medical efficacy of marijuana has become enormous.
ASA said it will argue in a forthcoming appeal brief that the federal government decision was not supported by the evidence and that it erred in refusing to down-schedule marijuana.
"By ignoring the wealth of scientific evidence that clearly shows the therapeutic value of marijuana, the Obama Administration is playing politics at the expense of sick and dying Americans," said ASA chief counsel Joe Elford. "For the first time in more than 15 years we will be able to present evidence in court to challenge the government's flawed position on medical marijuana."
ASA and other medical marijuana advocates viewed the DEA refusal to reschedule marijuana less as a defeat than as an opportunity to get the matter before the courts. The last time, the federal bench dealt with the medical efficacy of marijuana was in 1994, and the case for therapeutic cannabis has only grown stronger since then.
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
Let's hear the DEA lie in court.
All the rhetoric and outright lies that the DEA has been spewing since it's inception will be scrutinized and exposed for what they are in a trial. It's about time that these NON ELECTED policy makers have to try to prove what they are saying is true. No stonewalling in court fellas! This may well be the straw that breaks their tyrannical backs.
Good Luck, ASA. Take off the kid gloves for this fight.
Dems and Reps, different pages from the same bad book!
Judgment day for the DEA.
All the rhetoric and outright lies that the DEA has been spewing since it's inception will be scrutinized and exposed for what they are in a trial. It's about time that these NON ELECTED policy makers have to try to prove what they are saying is true. No stonewalling in court fellas! Th is may well be the straw that breaks their tyrannical backs.
Good Luck, ASA. Take off the kid gloves for this fight.
Dems and Reps, different pages from the same bad book!
Suing the DEA Will Never Work
As mentioned in the article, the DEA has already ignored a decision of their own judge. Why would they abide by the ruling in yet another court case? ASA can spend lots of money and lots of time, and even win their case, only to have the DEA ignore the decision. Suing the DEA is pointless.
What the ASA needs to focus on is the DEA's conflict of interest. The DEA both makes and enforces the law. They will never reschedule marijuana, as they would be essentially putting themselves out of business. What a court needs to do it declare that the same agency cannot both make and enforce a law. It's called separation of power. The legislative branch makes laws and the executive branch enforces them. The same branch can't do both.
In reply to Suing the DEA Will Never Work by Tony Aroma (not verified)
The same branch can't do both.
Maybe, the people of America should ask the ACLU to sue congress for refusing to correct this illegal imbalance of power?
In reply to Suing the DEA Will Never Work by Tony Aroma (not verified)
Judge Young issued a recommendation, not an order
Judge Young didn't have the authority to order the DEA to comply with the law. A better question would be why do we continue wasting taxpayer money for the salaries of impotent judges? I've often wondered why his ruling wasn't pursued in the Court of a real Judge with the power to order the DEA to comply with the law. Regardless, if it's possible to get a real judge to hear the case Judge Young's ruling will go a long way to expediting a ruling in favor of the sick.
They're doing everything inhumanly possible to keep this medicine from helping the sick but in the end it's the one thing they don't have which will tilt the balance in favor of the sick, and that thing is the truth.
In reply to Suing the DEA Will Never Work by Tony Aroma (not verified)
Class-Action lawsuit against the DEA & Federal Government
I know it is not the correct procedure or anything but with America being the capital of litigation, and class action lawsuits against major corporations being a nearly commonplace thing....why can't we/ASA or All the medical states in the country file a class action type lawsuit against the DEA? Government works for us, to protect us from ourselves in some situations....but it should be based on public opinion and facts. The DEA is ignoring both. How is what they are doing that much different from the Maddoff case? Purposely misleading the public for their own self serving reasons?
Seems to me that ASA has the ability to rally signatures and people willing to testify for months on end, minute after minute, against the DEA in court. It also seems with the power of social media, we can make the information and developments more public than they've ever been before in real time. Seems to me that we can, through social media, stage a peaceful revolution against this abuse of power and trampling of states and personal rights.
When things are hidden behind closed doors and piecemeal info being disseminated, it is easier to swallow the propaganda. Only when it is out and public, both pro and against cannabis...that we the people can have the information needed to make a that personal decision...as is our right as citizen of a society. Didn't America begin as a dream for the oppressed, lied to, manipulated and trampled people of Europe who said...F it...we'll move to a rock in the middle of the ocean to take back control of our lives and live in a society of our definition?
In reply to Class-Action lawsuit against the DEA & Federal Government by A Man who chos… (not verified)
lawsuit against the DEA and federal government
While unfortunate (which doesn't even begin to reach the level of the mismanagement here), the DEA will continue to refuse to reschedule marijuana just like the Obama administration refuses to honor the legal ruling against them in the case of his offshore drilling moratorium. These people don't care what's Constitutional, what's the law, or what the American people want. All they want is the power to gun down anyone that they deem 'bad'. They continue to wage war against the people of this country, without regard to the consequences. They continue to arm local police forces with military-type weapons, so that local police can kill family pets, trample over innocent people, kill innocent family members and bystanders and, in general, abuse the American public. All in the name of their own definition of the law. They quite simply don't care what any judge says therefore they are under the definition of "domestic enemies of the Constitution" which are mentioned in almost every public oath of office. The American people MUST get together and rid this nation of those who would consider themselves above the law, much as President Obama quite openly considers himself and his personal ideals above not only the Constitution and federal law, but above the wishes of the vast majority of his employers, the citizens of the United states. These people see themselves as 'the educated elites', which they think gives them the right to break any law that they don't like, as well as institute any law or bureaucratic regulation that they think will help them in their ultimate quest to control and subvert the government of the United States of America, a Constitutional Republic. These people are the ultimate traitors to our country, and they should be treated as such, i.e. trial followed by imprisonment or execution. The DEA and the BATFE are very similar in that they don't even mind sacrificing their own members if it furthers their agenda. Operation Fast & Furious is the new standard of manipulating reality to make it fit their definition. To them, it absolutely doesn't matter that a Border Patrol agent and a DEA agent were killed by weapons that they allowed to get into the hands of the drug cartels, on purpose.
In reply to Suing the DEA Will Never Work by Tony Aroma (not verified)
Suing DEA on merits of scientific evidence is tough
When it comes right down to it, DEA says the risks outweigh the benefits. How do we know when that balance tips the other way? How will a judge know? DEA got a recommendation from DHHS on this petition in 2006 and DHHS said cannabis is not medicine. And now, ASA expects a judge to overrule DHHS on a question of science? Judges are not scientific experts. Don't expect anything different from this appeal than the results we got in 1991 and 1994 trying to sue DEA for rejecting Judge Young's ruling. People need to start paying attention to Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243, 258 (2006) ("The Attorney General has rulemaking power to fulfill his duties under the CSA. The specific respects in which he is authorized to make rules, however, instruct us that he is not authorized to make a rule declaring illegitimate a medical standard for care and treatment of patients that is specifically authorized under state law."). We need a new approach.
Irv Rosenfeld, The Government
Irv Rosenfeld, The Government has been giving him herb for years now....for MEDICINAL PURPOSES....how can the same government say it doesnt have a medicinal purpose?
They will just ignore
They will just ignore whatever the judge hands down if it suits them. Their charter allows them to. That's how they got away with ignoring Judge Young. The DEA is an extra-legal army of thugs, answerable only to themselves.
Here's A Thought
I believe there is a substance responsible for thousands of deaths per year (vs marijuana none), that has chemical addictive properties (vs marijuana none), and is abuse more frequently than any drug at the drug store (vs low abuse potential), and if it has medical value it is for treating the addiction. What am I referring to? Could be alcohol or tobacco, take your pick. What I propose is a two for one. Lets make alcohol and tobacco Schedule I (they qualify by definition) and give our friend marijuana a pass. If I was running the show that's what I'd do!
In reply to Here's A Thought by disgusted (not verified)
Wouldn't Al Capone's heirs sue?
While I believe you could make tobacco go away via prohibition, we've already had an object lesson in the stupidity of drinking alcohol prohibition. If the law says that's what we should do with liquor then the law is an ass and it's that law that needs to change.
BTW I used to smoke tobacco, so I know what it's like. I also know it just wouldn't have been worth it had it been illegal.
Francis Young was a judge within the DEA's own system.
Not within the federal courts proper. The DEA thugocracy headed by Michele Liarheart can't ignore a federal judge the same way they ignored their own Administrative Law Judge, though they might be able to drag it out on appeal. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Catherine, what are you talking about?
We've already made it clear that we want the idiocy of cannabis prohibition to end. People who don't want to use it are free to abstain. They are not free to force me to do so, and it isn't going to happen.
Catherine, what are you talking about?
We've already made it clear that we want the idiocy of cannabis prohibition to end. People who don't want to use it are free to abstain. They are not free to force me to do so, and it isn't going to happen.
Lawsuit Against DEA
This is to the Court of Appeals, not an entity inside of the DEA. This is about a government agendy refusing to do its job. The court can say that the DEA was arbitrary and capricious in its interpretation by not making a serious attempt to evaluate the evidence. And also the numerous contradictions by other commenters demonstrates the lack of reason in its decision. The terms here are used in Labor Law. I recently read the comments of an arbitrator who upheld the decision of a supervisor to fire an employee, despite many questions about the supervisor's judgment. The arbitrator said that he didn't have to agree with the supervisor's decision, but only to find it reasonable. The court ought to find the DEA's decision unreasonable, because it is.
If the police fine you for letting your dog run loose, the judge doesn't have to uphold the police's action when it turns out that they mistook your cat for a dog.
Thanks for the link!
That link to the Frontline piece was great, thanks.
DEA SLIME
the DEA is a cancer on freedom.
the DEA is a cancer on
the DEA is a cancer on freedom
Acts unconstitutional may be disobeyed under UCC 28 S 530D
33. Whereas it is my understanding that a claim of right establishes a lawful excuse and, that this factual truth is expressed in the Criminal Codes of Canada and US Code (UCC), Title 28 Sec 530D (A) (B) of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and,
58. Furthermore, I claim the right to possess, cultivate or use medicinally any plant of the genus Cannabis or any other naturally occurring substance to my healthful benefit ,considering that the statutes under Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations ,Sec. 72.11 officially acknowledge the fact that the crimes listed are commercial and apply only to corporations and those people who beg to be governed or who knowingly consent to administrate the artificial corporate person’s account and these statutes do not apply to the functional sovereign human being /Freeman on the Land and furthermore ,the United Supreme Court had ruled in , LEARY v. UNITED STATES, 395 U.S. 6 (1969) , that the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was unconstitutional on the grounds of self-incrimination and also, I claim the right to the maximum state of health that I can achieve and maintain and the right to cultivate, process, store, use or consume any naturally occurring substance or derivations thereof to that purpose, including, but not exclusively limited to, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, pro-biotics, phyto-nutrients, herbs and homeopathic remedies, the right to uncontaminated air, uncontaminated water, uncontaminated nutrition, and the right to use the resources of any form of healer or therapist for the purpose of achieving and maintaining my health and in doing so, indemnify them of any form of statutory limitation.
61. If one has lawful excuse one is not obliged to obey a court, tribunal, statute, Act or order, and that this factual truth is expressed in Sections 126 and 127 of the Criminal Code of Canada and US Code (UCC), Title 28 Sec 530D (A) (B) of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
http://www.dailypaul.com/171591/notice-of-understanding-and-intent-claim-of-right
Marijuana
I personally do believe that there is colusion between our Fed Gov and 'majority' of the marijuana producing countries on earth, EXCEPT THE USA, well, at least a lot of countries we 'import' illegal drugs from. Afganistan is the perfect example of our Fed Gov NOT acting on their findings out in the field. Afganistan grows an enourmous amout of opium poppy plants to 'import' to the USA! Why aren't our guys over there destroying all 'their' CASH CROPS! THAT'S WHAT THEY DO TO US FOR THE SAME THINGS!!! They even grow excellent marijuana! Sooo, WTF!!! What the hell is going on with us 'allowing' Mexico, Afganistan, and several other 'foreign' countries to 'continue' doing what they 'TELL' us we can NOT do also! WE friggn send these 'ENEMY' countries Billions of US bucks to help them 'continue' to produce what is illegal and very much 'desired' in OUR country!
"I", Bob L Liles, for one, see our Fed Gov providing WELFARE on America's dime to the entire world by 'continuing' to keep drugs illegal here, yet, we do nothing to stop all our cash from 'flowing' into other countries coffers to cover our voracious appetite for primarily Marijuana! We are feeding our enemies and provisioning them to continue making money which could be kept here for Americans. We are enabling the Mexicans to get automatic weapons by continuing the "War on Drugs", which 'I' believe is a war on American's by our own gov. WE are the reason for the marijuana drug wars in Mexico! Why the hell pot is illegal is to prop up Mexico's economy! This is crap! Illegal aliens from Mexico back pack all types of drugs, not just pot, into the USA. Does anyone still wonder 'why' pot isn't legal here???
Marijuana
I personally do believe that there is colusion between our Fed Gov and 'majority' of the marijuana producing countries on earth, EXCEPT THE USA, well, at least a lot of countries we 'import' illegal drugs from. Afganistan is the perfect example of our Fed Gov NOT acting on their findings out in the field. Afganistan grows an enourmous amout of opium poppy plants to 'import' to the USA! Why aren't our guys over there destroying all 'their' CASH CROPS! THAT'S WHAT THEY DO TO US FOR THE SAME THINGS!!! They even grow excellent marijuana! Sooo, WTF!!! What the hell is going on with us 'allowing' Mexico, Afganistan, and several other 'foreign' countries to 'continue' doing what they 'TELL' us we can NOT do also! WE friggn send these 'ENEMY' countries Billions of US bucks to help them 'continue' to produce what is illegal and very much 'desired' in OUR country!
"I", Bob L Liles, for one, see our Fed Gov providing WELFARE on America's dime to the entire world by 'continuing' to keep drugs illegal here, yet, we do nothing to stop all our cash from 'flowing' into other countries coffers to cover our voracious appetite for primarily Marijuana! We are feeding our enemies and provisioning them to continue making money which could be kept here for Americans. We are enabling the Mexicans to get automatic weapons by continuing the "War on Drugs", which 'I' believe is a war on American's by our own gov. WE are the reason for the marijuana drug wars in Mexico! Why the hell pot is illegal is to prop up Mexico's economy! This is crap! Illegal aliens from Mexico back pack all types of drugs, not just pot, into the USA. Does anyone still wonder 'why' pot isn't legal here???
Marijuana
I personally do believe that there is colusion between our Fed Gov and 'majority' of the marijuana producing countries on earth, EXCEPT THE USA, well, at least a lot of countries we 'import' illegal drugs from. Afganistan is the perfect example of our Fed Gov NOT acting on their findings out in the field. Afganistan grows an enourmous amout of opium poppy plants to 'import' to the USA! Why aren't our guys over there destroying all 'their' CASH CROPS! THAT'S WHAT THEY DO TO US FOR THE SAME THINGS!!! They even grow excellent marijuana! Sooo, WTF!!! What the hell is going on with us 'allowing' Mexico, Afganistan, and several other 'foreign' countries to 'continue' doing what they 'TELL' us we can NOT do also! WE friggn send these 'ENEMY' countries Billions of US bucks to help them 'continue' to produce what is illegal and very much 'desired' in OUR country!
"I", Bob L Liles, for one, see our Fed Gov providing WELFARE on America's dime to the entire world by 'continuing' to keep drugs illegal here, yet, we do nothing to stop all our cash from 'flowing' into other countries coffers to cover our voracious appetite for primarily Marijuana! We are feeding our enemies and provisioning them to continue making money which could be kept here for Americans. We are enabling the Mexicans to get automatic weapons by continuing the "War on Drugs", which 'I' believe is a war on American's by our own gov. WE are the reason for the marijuana drug wars in Mexico! Why the hell pot is illegal is to prop up Mexico's economy! This is crap! Illegal aliens from Mexico back pack all types of drugs, not just pot, into the USA. Does anyone still wonder 'why' pot isn't legal here???
End Nixonâs infamous legacy of lies, trickery and ignorance.
A Schedule 1 drug is supposed to have no medicinal value: - , in 2003 the US-government received a patent on cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants, US patent #6630507.
Obviously, something is wrong!
Dear DEA - Read and study the overwhelming evidence at
The Cannabis Papers
A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids:
Add new comment