Removing cannabis from the DEA’s “Drug Schedules” – known as “de-scheduling” – is the fastest, cleanest route to:
a) letting states set their own cannabis regulation laws without any fear or even chance of federal intervention – just as they’ve been able to for alcohol since the end of prohibition in the 1930s and
b) opening up unlimited research into the the plant which could be done without going through byzantine, expensive, time-consuming hoops to get approval – just as is possible for other medicinal agents.
But for all #descheduling’s virtues (more than we can get into here), it’s seemed a long shot. Yet it’s funny how dollar signs can help the connected… evolve…. …and how the influence of the powerful can help break up log jams…so just maybe we might see something similar to what’s proposed here actually make headway.
That would be nice, as in we think descheduling is the most rational thing for the federal gov’t to do to get itself out of an area it never belonged in in the first place…
…Even if it’s ironic that former champions of prohibition might some of the ones to really cash in on the legal medical cannabis business… …but someone’s going to profit from reform, and better from the legal side than from the corruption and dirty money prohibition creates.
And so (excerpts)….
“Former Speaker of the House and Ohio Republican John Boehner is joining the board of one of the largest US cannabis companies: Acreage Holdings. He announced on April 11 that he has revised his position on cannabis.
‘I’m joining because my thinking on cannabis has evolved. I’m convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities.’
Boehner’s use of the word ‘de-scheduling’ rather than ‘re-scheduling’ is telling.
[And worth applauding!]
Former Republican MA Gov. Bill Weld, is also joining. Boehner and Weld said ‘the time has come for serious consideration of a shift in federal cannabis policy,’ specifically mentioning use by military veterans ‘to self-treat PTSD, chronic pain, and other ailments.’
While the Tenth Amendment has allowed much change at the state level, there are still many negative implications [in] scheduling cannabis as a Class 1 drug: most notably the lack of research, the ambiguity around financial services and the refusal of the VA to offer it as an alternative to the harmful opioids that are ravishing our communities, they said.”
Given how multiple reform bills are languishing in Congress, however, we’re far from ready to jump up and down and proclaim premature victory – for patients OR former elected high-profile politicians.
But gosharootie, such a simple, bold move would certainly make it easier to defuse a main opponent argument here in Utah, so we wish their de-scheduling effort our best.
We live in hope. Go Congress…..
#MMJ #USpol #UTpol #TRUCE
See full article – Former Anti-Pot Republican John Boehner Suddenly Joins The Cannabis Industry
