Welp. Mark this federal study down as a giant waste of taxpayer money, and also mark it down as yet another reason why our government is trying to keep us from doing the things we want to do in the privacy of our own homes.
I’ll say it again, in a country where we’re cutting funding for damn near anything and searching for tax revenue like a hound dog after a rabbit, why in the hell won’t our government legalize and tax marijuana? It will save us money on the ridiculous and costly “War on Drugs” and generate much needed funds for our broke-ass states and federal government. And, if politicians want young people to vote (and maybe they don’t), they should put pot legalization on the next ballot.
Furthermore, let me also repeat that if pot was legalized, a multitude of legal, tax-paying, job-creating business ventures would spring up instantaneously: pot bakeries, pot shops, pot farms … you name it.
But, oh no, we’ve got to keep lying to people about the dangers of a harmless weed.
The federal government officially declared that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a dangerous and addictive drug. It will remain in the same class of drugs as heroin.The Department of Justice declared Friday: “DHHS concluded that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.” (Read the rest of the ruling here.)
The decision comes almost a decade after medical marijuana supporters asked the feds to reclassify cannabis.
Read the rest of this MSNBC.com article here.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2011.
“has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.”
Sounds like alcohol.
The studies that contradict this one and are free of political motivation are still FAR more numerous and collectively reputable. This study reads like it was never intended to be fair in the first place.
This is like a speed bump to a steamroller though. Decriminalization is still right around the corner and legalization probably won’t be far behind.
The United States re-legalized certain drug use in 1933. The drug was alcohol, and the 21st amendment re-legalized its production, distribution and sale. Both alcohol consumption and violent crime dropped immediately as a result, and, very soon after, the American economy climbed out of that same prohibition engendered abyss into which it had previously been pushed.
You will never get rid of the marijuana laws as long as you keep sending Conservatives to congress. Many of them would like to bring alcohol prohibition back.