Pubdate: Sun, 15 Jan 2012
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Section: As It Stands
Copyright: 2012 Times-Standard
Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writeus
Website: http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: Dave Stancliff
Note: Dave Stancliff is a retired newspaper editor and publisher who
writes this column for the Times-Standard.
IN A TWIST OF IRONY, BIG PHARMA HELPING GET POT LEGALIZED

Marijuana won't be legalized just because every other American smokes
or eats it in some form. Think brownies, cookies, candy or cake.

Despite a record-high 50 percent of Americans saying they use
marijuana and it should be made legal, it's still illegal.

Thea fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans are for
legalization means absolutely nothing. The federal government, with
its Orwellian logic, is unfazed by what Americans really want.

For those who don't know why marijuana is illegal in this country,
it's because of politics and outright lies by a crazed anti-pot
crusader named Harry J. Anslinger.

Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind
of process involving scientific, medical and government hearings. Not
even close. Banning pot was a political thing. For more history go to
/www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2.htm.

The first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a
documented lie on the floor of the Senate. Those who voted then got
one side of the story based upon racism, fear, protection of corporate
profits and yellow journalism inspired by Anslinger.

We can thank incompetent and/or corrupt legislators interested in
personal career advancement and greed for the continued war on
marijuana. Despite the medical findings associated with marijuana, it
still hasn't been legalized nationwide.

Anslinger's propaganda still pulls weight among many
legislators.

Politicians like to appear tough on crime and pass tougher penalties
for marijuana possession. The taxpayers end up funding the pot
propaganda while their speech on the subject is stifled by the
corporate media.

Laws are passed based upon political contributions from corporations
that profit from marijuana being illegal, like pharmaceuticals and
alcohol.

So what makes me think that marijuana will be legal in America some
day? I've written on this subject for two decades, and I've always
made it a point to show why Big Pharma doesn't want marijuana legal.

Well, guess what? Big Pharma has taken a new course (perhaps they
planned it this way all along) and is seriously eyeing the
profitability of the medical marijuana market. It's already using
lobbyists and government connections to ensure control. That means
legalization at some point.

Last April, two drug manufacturing giants, G.W. Pharmaceuticals (a
worldwide corporation based in the U.K. with offices in the U.S.) and
Novartis (a worldwide corporation headquartered in Basel, Switzerland,
with offices in the U.S.), announced they had formed an alliance to
license and market GW's Sativex, a liquid cannabis drug. Learn more at
www.naturalnews.com/032547_medical_marijuana_Big_Pharma.html#ixzz1hJ12CvJP.

The American Independent recently observed, "... the pharmaceutical
giants' strategy as regards marijuana seems to be to 'demonize it,
prosecute it, shut it down, then grab the market.'"

The idea that a drug can be denounced as evil in one context but
hailed as a medical miracle if sold within the pharmaceutical system
is nothing new. Big Pharma's magic cure pills for ADHD bear a
suspicious chemical resemblance to speed.

Cannabis Science Inc., a U.S. biotech company developing
pharmaceutical cannabis products, recently reported that two former
U.S. attorneys and the former head of Seattle FBI are in favor of
Washington State Initiative 502 to legalize marijuana.

So you see we are moving towards legalization. Not because you or I
want it, but because Big Pharma has finally decided the time is here
to profitably exploit marijuana. Look to the media this year for more
reports like Cannabis Science's (or other corporations) backing
marijuana legalization in other states.

Big Pharma won't be the only corporate giant cashing in on legal
cannabis crops. The retail and food industry will probably step in
with their deep pockets, providing unfair competition to small-time
growers.

The dot-com industry was once the fastest way to get rich, but I
suspect the future holds a new crop of instant millionaire CEOs when
marijuana is legalized. It won't be because the American people have
finally convinced legislators to do the right thing. That only happens
in the movies.

As It Stands, despite the real possibility of monopolies when
marijuana becomes legal, there are at least two upsides. The Feds'
expensive and losing war on marijuana will end, and it'll cripple the
Mexican cartels' lucrative marijuana trade in the U.S.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D