What A Pretty Weed!
The availability of legal marijuana is now allowed in 18 states and Washington, DC for medical use only. Recreational use was voted in by the citizens of Washington and Colorado.
Different Forms Of Ecstasy
Federal law is still categorizing marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic like heroin, LSD (“acid”), ecstasy, mescaline (from peyote cactus) and psilocybin (from mushroom).
The meaning of Schedule 1 are defined as chemicals having no medical use and the highest potential for abuse according to the U.S. DEA.
Over thirty-three percentage of the states in our country have ruled that marijuana has a reason to be used for medical purposes. Although our federal government says it has no medical use. The allowed reasons to use “pot” are patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy (for nausea and vomiting), having wasting diseases like AIDS, those with glaucoma and muscular spasticity (like MS). It can also be used in nerve pain and fibromyalgia.
Our Streets Are Like Pill Supermarkets
As a pharmacist, I have seen the rapid growth of drug abuse within the other classes of Federal Schedules 2-5. The lower the schedule number, the higher the street price for the drug. The category breakdown below shows only a small representation of each schedule class.
- Schedule 2- oxycodone, amphetamines, fentanyl
- Schedule 3- hydrocodone, anabolic steroids
- Schedule 4- anti-anxiety like alprazolam, diazepam, chlorazepam
- Schedule 5- liquid codeine, liquid opiate
Narcotic and controlled prescriptions are out of control throughout the country. There are physicians that are being paid per prescription to write out these highly addictive medications. Doctors work in locations throughout the U.S. called prescriptions mills. “Patients” frequent these mills and later sell the medications on the streets. Narcotics officials do the best job they can to apprehend and prosecute this lucrative business. They are usually understaffed and overwhelmed with these illegal practices.
Unlike This Case, There Are Only Losers In the Drug War
It’s like A Whac-A-Mole game where there is no winner. They close 1 prescription mill down and 2 mills open up. This drug war will never stop because its rooted in cold hard cash with no withdrawn taxes.
What An Ultimate Accomplishment!
In the early 70’s, President Nixon started the war on drugs program when he brought in Elvis Presley as an anti-drug superstar. Great choice! Here we are over 50 years later and in 2010 the U.S. government spent $15 billion to continue losing the war on drugs.
Marijuana arrests are greater than 50% of the drug abuse arrests in the United States. That is insane! Full focus should be on the legal prescription narcotic epidemic that continues to expand throughout the country. Marijuana should be federally decriminalized. Then the government can focus their resources on “real pushers” of legal prescription narcotics. This illicit industry has grown into an even bigger business because of the recession and unemployment.
At the very least, Renovating Your Mind thinks that the DEA should change marijuana’s Schedule from 1 to 2 because it does have legitimate medical uses.
By the way, one of marijuana’s active ingredients that helps to produce the high, has been made synthetically. It was approved by the FDA in 1990’s and called Marinol. The medication is used to treat the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. I wonder if the FDA talks to the DEA since the federal government says marijuana has no medical use.
Why Is This Drug Schedule 3?
Categories: Health
Renovating Your Mind 
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