Pubdate: Sun, 17 May 2015
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

POT NOT AMONG 'MOST DANGEROUS' DRUGS

As the debate over medical marijuana continues in California and 
nationally, one bureaucratic step to lessen tensions would be to 
change its "drug schedule" listing. The federal Drug Enforcement 
Administration classifies drugs into five "schedules ... depending 
upon the drug's acceptable medical use and the drug's abuse or 
dependency potential."

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, "defined as drugs with 
no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. 
Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug 
schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence."

Drugs lower down the scale - from Schedule II to Schedule V - 
represent declining risks of abuse and dependence. Many are 
prescribed by physicians. Schedule II drugs include Vicodin, 
OxyContin, Demerol and Ritalin.

Drugs on the more severe schedules are prosecuted more severely by 
federal drug-enforcement authorities.

Some drugs currently slotted in Schedule I include heroin, LSD, 
ecstasy, methaqualone and peyote. Yet common sense, and the votes of 
millions of Americans, have indicated a strong disconnect between 
what the public wants and the insistance of the federal government in 
keeping marijuana on Schedule I. People just don't accept that a 
cancer patient smoking a joint to stimulate the appetite is the same 
as a junkie shooting up smack.

"Cannabis is legal as a therapeutic by statute in 23 states and 
Washington, D.C.," including California, Paul Armentano told us; he's 
the deputy director of the National Organization for the Repeal of 
Marijuana Laws. "A specific compound in marijuana, cannabidiol, is 
exempted by statute in another 14 states. How do these laws conform 
to the notion that cannabis possesses 'no accepted medical use?'"

According to a study by the Brookings Institution, there are two ways 
marijuana's schedule can be changed. One is for Congress to amend the 
Controlled Substances Act to shift marijuana from Schedule I, "or 
remove it from the schedules entirely." Unfortunately, the recent 
takeover of Congress by Republicans makes that less likely.

The second is for Attorney General Loretta Lynch to move pot from 
Schedule I. A presidential executive order would not be needed. 
Rather, President Obama would ask her to take that action. We urge 
him to do so, or, at least, explain why he won't.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom