The United States government has reclassified cannabis as a low risk substance, partially ending the costly, unconstitutional, and ineffective cannabis prohibition which has tainted the country - and world - for the past century. But why did it take so long, and who will pay for this despicable crime against humanity?
The meat from CNN's article in quotes, with my commentary after:
"rescheduled to Schedule III controlled substance, a classification shared by prescription drugs such as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine"
That one nonchalant sentence changes so much about the world, it boggles the mind. And I do mean the world, because the world will follow this change, just as it did with prohibition in the first place. Almost nothing about our lives would be the same if cannabis prohibition had never happened. Now they just casually announce it's going away.
"major news for businesses, tax deductions & research barriers.”
Yeah, cannabis stocks went through the roof on the announcement, hurrah. And yes, more research into medical uses will be allowed. While this is great news, it's 100 years late. 100 years of big pharma running amok, putting down natural treatments in favour of their addictive and expensive pills. My wife's spinal cancer didn't need to be hacked out of her, leaving her crippled for life, but that research was held back. My nerve condition would be treatable with cannabinoids, if that research had been done. Lots of my friends who died of various cancers didn't need to die, but they did, because research has been very hard to do.
Undoubtably, some of this research will discover (or confirm) that cannabinoids are incredibly medicinal in the human body, nurturing our endocannabinoid system like oil lubricates an engine. We've known for decades that cannabis cures many cancers, safely and for almost no cost, but this information has been suppressed from becoming common knowledge. I did a video, which I consider my most important, called Cannabis Cures Cancer in 2016.
The original upload on YouTube was deleted last month. "YouTube does not allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts the World Health Organization's or local health authorities’ medical information about cancer treatment."
But my video is just a compilation of about 250 scientific studies done since the 1990s that show cannabinoids destroy cancer cells and safely remove tumors. Every single one is linked in the video description. Just a few:
I broke no rules, and only posted uncontroversial scientific analysis of our current understanding of this topic. The video was scrutinized over and over, by various people (and algorithms)... and only just now, 8 years later, was finally found to contain misinformation? What new research has come out, totally changing our understanding of cannabis, and negating those 250 scientific studies in my documentary?! None, of course.
"For generations, cannabis has been categorized as a Schedule I substance — drugs like heroin, bath salts and ecstasy that are considered to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse — and subject to the strictest of restrictions."
Yes, I've dodged cops, parents, and strangers many times while trying to get (or be) high. I've had businesses shut, or just outright ruined, by cannabis prohibition. I've paid 10 times what it should have cost, so I could have medicine for my wife. I know people who went to prison for a long time, for growing/selling this plant. I've seen people beat up and smashed into the pavement over this plant. I know people who have died because of the prohibition of cannabis. Prohibition's harms are innumerable, and a big part of that prohibition was putting cannabis in the same category as crystal meth.
It's a new era for cannabis prohibition! Now, my cannabis content isn't being removed because it's taboo or illegal. Instead, it's being removed because it's misinformation.
"It meets three criteria: a lower potential for abuse than other substances on Schedules I and II; a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the US; and a risk of low or moderate physical dependence in people who abuse it."
So because a legitimate medical use can finally no longer be denied, cannabis is being changed to schedule III. This will finally allow it to be widely researched for medical uses. Kind of brazen for them to admit the catch 22 they've had us under! It was illegal because there were no accepted medical uses, and there were no accepted medical uses because there were no studies being done, and there were no studies being done because it was illegal.
Besides, to claim that we've only just now discovered valid medical uses for cannabis is idiotic. My wife has had a prescription for cannabis from her cancer specialists for many years. I know people who have been using cannabis with the backing of their doctors for decades, to save their lives. I've researched and written articles about the medical uses of cannabis for a long time. Cannabis was used extensively as medicine across the entire world until the early 1900s, when prohibition and then "The War on Drugs" came along.
We are NOT just discovering that cannabinoids have hundreds of pivotal medical uses, although many of us are re-discovering that fact now.
"Although marijuana has a high prevalence of non-medical use in the US, it doesn’t seem to elicit serious outcomes, compared with drugs such as heroin, oxycodone and cocaine, the researchers said. This is especially notable given the availability of products that contain very high levels of THC."
Oh, like the concentrates (shatter, budder, distillate, rosin, etc) my wife and I have been using daily for a decade?
Doesn’t seem to elicit serious outcomes? Nice to get official acknowledgement that Reefer Madness was a lie from the start, although most of us (even the general public) has slowly figured that out as the decades have gone by and nobody ever died from cannabis. Many researchers consider it one of the safest known psychoactive substances.
"Since (legalization) in 2014 in Colorado, cannabis has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar industry that has attracted the attention of multinational companies across sectors such as alcohol, agriculture, pharmaceutical and tobacco."
It was always "a multibillion-dollar industry", the only difference is now it's controlled by a disgusting bunch of untrustworthy psychopathic corporations instead of a grassroots network of entrepreneurial growers and sellers. Legalization isn't about freedom, it's about establishing a corporate monopoly. I've been shouting this from the rooftops for many years! Please see my documentary "Cannabis Legalization is a LIE".
"The manufacture, distribution and possession will remain illegal under federal law and possibly subject to enforcement and prosecution."
So you still can't grow it without the feds possibly kicking down your door and shooting your dog/kids/you. In other words, only SOME of prohibition is ending. Lots still remains, and it's ALL got to go.
"It is rare for the federal government to reverse itself on an issue where it’s had a stance for the last 100 years and arrested countless people for."
This is the only criticism offered in the article, and that is massively insulting to the thousands killed, millions ruined, and hundreds of millions harmed by cannabis prohibition. It's not possible to understate the amount of suffering this policy has inflicted on humanity.
Cannabis should NEVER have been on the schedule at all, let alone in category 1 with the most dangerous substances known to man! To just quietly undo that, after generations of harms, is beyond degrading.
How do we begin to punish those responsible, and heal those who have been unjustly harmed? How do we repair our society after such an atrocity, especially when much of it still continues?
Decriminalize cannabis! End cannabis prohibition!
DRutter