Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jun 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Nat Stein

CANNA ACTIVISTS TO OBAMA: DESCHEDULE NOW

Advocates call for descheduling.

Last week, CannaBiz covered local activists' demonstration outside 
the Air Force Academy before President Barack Obama's widely watched 
commencement address. As cars from all over the country poured in, 
the loosely affiliated Cannabis Patient Rights Coalition spoke out - 
asking the mayor to stop tightening local regulations and the 
president to stop classifying cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

That federally illegal status is cause for much consternation in 
Colorado's burgeoning industry and all those who operate, regulate, 
litigate, finance and insure it. But, as the activists lining the 
road into the Air Force Academy on the morning of June 2 readily 
admit, changing that status has to be done properly.

The protesters called for descheduling cannabis, not rescheduling. 
The latter "would turn it into a pharmaceutical," according to 
organizer and trained cannabinoid therapist Bridget Dandaraw-Seritt. 
"And that would actually be a step back in a state like ours."

First, a little background. The 1970 Schedule I classification was 
meant to be temporary, pending review by the Nixon administration's 
National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Although reports 
from that commission acknowledged the "evils of marihuana [were] 
based much more on fantasy than on proven fact," the era's socially 
conservative politicians nonetheless decided to keep cannabis 
classified as a substance that had the greatest potential for abuse 
and no medicinal value. That's why today, the federal government 
considers cannabis a more dangerous drug than cocaine and meth, 
despite widespread acceptance that the plant is relatively harmless 
for most and evidently lifesaving for some.

The legislative branch has tried and failed to provide a fix. U.S. 
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 
proposed bills to deschedule marijuana, regulating it instead like 
alcohol or tobacco. Another bill with a whole slew of co-sponsors, 
including House members Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado, and Mike Coffman, 
R-Colorado, to reschedule cannabis to Schedule II also stalled out in Congress.

Failing in their own branch, eight senators (none from Colorado) 
wrote nearly a year ago to the heads of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA), Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and 
White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy urging 
administrative action.

"While the federal government has emphasized research on the 
potential harms associated with the use of marijuana, there is still 
very limited research on the potential health benefits of marijuana," 
the senators wrote. "With the patient pool of medical marijuana users 
growing in the United States, we believe that federal agencies have 
both an opportunity and a responsibility to craft a sensible research 
and public health strategy that allows us to generate meaningful data 
and conclusions from this ongoing natural experiment."

The DEA has rejected rescheduling petitions four times already, but 
in its response to the senators' letter, the agency said to expect a 
determination in the "first half of 2016," or, in other words, by the 
end of June.

The repercussions, of course, are as yet unknown. As for how, say, 
moving cannabis to Schedule II or III would affect Colorado's 
regulatory structure, Lynn Granger, spokeswoman for the state 
Marijuana Enforcement Division, says, "We try not to speculate unless 
it's a reality."

Dandaraw-Seritt of the Cannabis Patient Rights Coalition worries if 
marijuana gets rescheduled, pharmaceutical companies would take over 
the market.

"Measured doses would be really nice, but not isolated compounds. All 
the different ratios of cannabinoids and terpenes work together to 
create an effect. It's super-individual," she told the Indy. 
"[Cannabis] should be treated like an alternative medicine or 
nutritional supplement like oregano."

Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy 
Project, points out that a Schedule II classification would open the 
door to much-needed research and let defendants in federal court 
introduce medical need as evidence, but wouldn't lift excessive taxes 
off marijuana businesses or resolve the industry's banking issue.

"A change in federal law wouldn't necessarily impact Colorado law, 
unless it inspired other policy changes," Tvert said. "But it could 
provide an excuse for [federal policymakers] not to take any further action."

That's why Tvert's organization supports total descheduling.

"We don't have alcohol or tobacco on the drug schedule, so why should 
we put marijuana there?" Tvert said. "Going down to Schedule II would 
make federal law only look completely ridiculous, not utterly 
completely ridiculous. And that's not resolving the problem."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom