U.S. senate to consider changing Marijuana status from Class 1 to Class 2

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm sure there are better drugs to be used for medical purposes other than marijuana.  I'm reluctant to support its use for medical purposes since we have better ways of treating people.

[tik 🪀✨]

Timmy, sometimes marijuana is just what works for certain people in certain situations. It is wise to have that option available, especially when the risks associated with the side effects are generally not dangerous. "Better drugs" is a misnomer. If you've ever, for instance, seen someone struggle to find the right medication to treat their depression, you'd understand it's important to have alternatives. Not everyone reacts the same to everything.

Edit: Moreover, marijuana isn't just a chemical. There are a wide range of different unique chemicals that all  should be isolated and studied to develop more focused drugs. But I'm going way off topic.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I'm sure there are better drugs to be used for medical purposes other than marijuana.  I'm reluctant to support its use for medical purposes since we have better ways of treating people.

     I'm sure it is not always or even often perfect, but it does have medicinal uses. That alone should make us reconsider placing it in Schedule I.

[Sbane]

I'm sure there are better drugs to be used for medical purposes other than marijuana.  I'm reluctant to support its use for medical purposes since we have better ways of treating people.

     I'm sure it is not always or even often perfect, but it does have medicinal uses. That alone should make us reconsider placing it in Schedule I.

The main psychoactive compound in Marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol(THC), is considered a Schedule 3 drug by the DEA. So why should the plant be Schedule 1? Especially since the plant contains other non-psychoactive compounds such as cannabidiol(CBD), which potentially has even more medicinal benefits than THC.

Also, the FDA is likely to approve another drug, Sativex, which is made from the plant itself. The other two cannabinoids that are prescription drugs are synthetically made. It will be interesting to see how the DEA manages to explain why the plant should be Schedule 1 but a medicine made from it be available with a prescription.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'm sure there are better drugs to be used for medical purposes other than marijuana.  I'm reluctant to support its use for medical purposes since we have better ways of treating people.

     I'm sure it is not always or even often perfect, but it does have medicinal uses. That alone should make us reconsider placing it in Schedule I.

The main psychoactive compound in Marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol(THC), is considered a Schedule 3 drug by the DEA. So why should the plant be Schedule 1? Especially since the plant contains other non-psychoactive compounds such as cannabidiol(CBD), which potentially has even more medicinal benefits than THC.

Stupid politicians?

[© tweed]

can't the Executive reschedule whatever it wants unilaterally?  I know the DEA has authority to add substances to Sched I, and they add a couple dozen every year.

Even if Obama can and wants to reschedule without congressional approval, the uproar he received over his relatively mild immigration order is probably making him hesitate on actually doing it.

I've no doubt that Obama wouldn't do it.  I'm pointing out his hypocrisy about "working with Congress" to reschedule marijuana -- meanwhile the Obama DEA has unilaterally placed dozens of drugs in Sched I, and will continue to.

[The Mikado]

This issue, and legalization itself, is going to cause a lot of controversy about medicinal marijuana in a world where recreational marijuana is a thing. Is medicinal marijuana about circumventing bans on recreational marijuana by getting a prescription to go home and smoke based on some nebulous and likely fraudulent concern, or is it about giving patients with chronic pain prescriptions of cannabis pills in little orange bottles? Once we get actual, bona fide legal recreational marijuana, medicinal marijuana is going to undergo quite a crisis of image...you're not going to buy from the dispensary when you can just pick up your pot over the counter at CVS or Safeway. Medicinal marijuana for actual sick people is going to have to become a much more serious and less easygoing process.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

...you're not going to buy from the dispensary when you can just pick up your pot over the counter at CVS or Safeway. Medicinal marijuana for actual sick people is going to have to become a much more serious and less easygoing process.

I doubt you're ever going to see a framework where you can buy weed at CVS or Safeway -- it's unlikely that major corporations are going to embrace the risk of selling the drug. You're much more likely to see the California/Colorado model, where weed is only available at licensed dispensaries (like how alcohol is only available at liquor stores in some states).

I think weed should be legal, but as a potential future parent, I wouldn't want to have it for sale in a location where I routinely bring my kids to buy aspirin or milk.

[Boris]

can't the Executive reschedule whatever it wants unilaterally?  I know the DEA has authority to add substances to Sched I, and they add a couple dozen every year.

Even if Obama can and wants to reschedule without congressional approval, the uproar he received over his relatively mild immigration order is probably making him hesitate on actually doing it.

I've no doubt that Obama wouldn't do it.  I'm pointing out his hypocrisy about "working with Congress" to reschedule marijuana -- meanwhile the Obama DEA has unilaterally placed dozens of drugs in Sched I, and will continue to.

How exactly does the DEA place drugs in a certain schedule? DOC, 2-ce, and 4-aco are all, as far as I'm aware, unscheduled, but they all have Wikipedia pages, reports on erowid, etc. so it's not like they're that obscure...

[© tweed]

can't the Executive reschedule whatever it wants unilaterally?  I know the DEA has authority to add substances to Sched I, and they add a couple dozen every year.

Even if Obama can and wants to reschedule without congressional approval, the uproar he received over his relatively mild immigration order is probably making him hesitate on actually doing it.

I've no doubt that Obama wouldn't do it.  I'm pointing out his hypocrisy about "working with Congress" to reschedule marijuana -- meanwhile the Obama DEA has unilaterally placed dozens of drugs in Sched I, and will continue to.

How exactly does the DEA place drugs in a certain schedule? DOC, 2-ce, and 4-aco are all, as far as I'm aware, unscheduled, but they all have Wikipedia pages, reports on erowid, etc. so it's not like they're that obscure...

they move slow as molasses.  why, I don't know.  the bane of all bureaucracies I suppose.  a hot new RC will last 2-3 years before it is "emergency" placed on Sched I.  on some things they don't move at all -- the diazepine analog market is a case in point, there are a million of them, have existed for a long time, and aren't even listed as "drugs of concern".  

sometimes the FTC places an import ban on stuff, but even then they only capture a fraction of what comes in.  kratom is in the process of being banned -- a few states have banned it, Florida is moving on it, there's an import ban, and it's a DEA "drug of concern".  get it while you can.