What We Have to Say About Marijuana and Veterans By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Many brave men and women who have risked their lives in service to our country are now suffering from physical, mental health, and substance abuse problems. We have an obligation to care for our military families and veterans and to improve their lives by increasing access to vital treatment services specifically geared toward our military heroes. While the Administration continues to support research on what parts of the marijuana plant may be used as medicine, neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Institute of Medicine has found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard of safe or effective medicine. We will continue working with our partners in the medical community to ensure that veterans have access to science-based medical treatments and get the help they and their families need. For more about what we have to say about marijuana, please see the President's National Drug Control Strategy, as well as this earlier petition response below: What We Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug's effects. According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world's largest source of drug abuse research - marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health – especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20's. Simply put, it is not a benign drug. Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition. As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use. That is why the President's National Drug Control Strategy is balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering our communities. Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences in America. And, as we've seen in our work through community coalitions across the country, this approach works in making communities healthier and safer. We're also focused on expanding access to drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today. And through our work with innovative drug courts across the Nation, we are improving our criminal justice system to divert non-violent offenders into treatment. Our commitment to a balanced approach to drug control is real. This last fiscal year alone, the Federal Government spent over $10 billion on drug education and treatment programs compared to just over $9 billion on drug related law enforcement in the U.S. Thank you for making your voice heard. I encourage you to take a moment to read about the President's approach to drug control to learn more. What We Have to Say About Marijuana and Hemp Production By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy America’s farmers deserve our Nation’s help and support to ensure rural America’s prosperity and vitality. Federal law prohibits human consumption, distribution, and possession of Schedule I controlled substances. Hemp and marijuana are part of the same species of cannabis plant. While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule I controlled substance. The Administration will continue looking for innovative ways to support farmers across the country while balancing the need to protect public health and safety. For more about what we have to say about marijuana, please see the President's National Drug Control Strategy, as well as this earlier petition response below: What a total crock of shit! Hemp can't be legal cause it has TRACE amounts of THC??? In fact, he deosn't even know what the fuck hemp IS. Read this, "most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana." He LITERALLY does not know what hemp is. Or understand the basic anatomy of the cannabis plant. The "marijuana" is not a part of the plant lmfao. Weed is bad for you if its SMOKED, but here take our patented pharma drugs. What a fucking joke. The status quo continues my friends.
Sadly they're not ignorant. Infact most people in the white house have smoked many times and know how benign it is. They are doing this for a lot of reasons but ignorance is not one of them.
If most the people in the white house have smoked hemp, I doubt they think it's benign. Any well adjusted person would be appalled by the thick, non-inebriating smoke of cannabis hemp fiber or seed pulp.
The fact is one can grow hemp for fiber even if it's the most stocky %90 indica type plant. space them closer together and you'll see seedling internodes at 4'' apart with the competition for light.
That arguement is flawed, alcohol causes health effects, addiction, and can be applied in every way to the negative aspects which were mentioned. Yet it is legal because if it wasn't more would die from its use due to poor production processes, and because of its popularity and acceptance in our culture which goes back to our European ancestory. Yet marijuana legalization is favored by half of the population of the United States, and yet in our democratic republic we have not yet forced our federal government to change the law. It is not a matter of having the support, it is a matter of going out and voting, demonstrating to politicians that we are a group worth appealing to because of our vast numbers and therefore politcal power. You want to change the law, get off your ass and vote. However, I will conceed that such is somewhat unrealistic until we gain a politician who recognizes that the federal government does not have the power to criminalize marijuana. So until we demonstrate that we are a political force, and gain a politican with influence we will never move forward.
^Sure thing. I'll go right out and vote for that guy that is vocally in favor of legalizing cannabis as soon as possible! What was his/her name again?
Until the day when our lawmaker's jobs are no longer dependent on the donations of corporations, which they receive only through long careers of pandering to them, it will be status quo as usual. I see my vote as completely and utterly meaningless when the vast majority of this nation believes what they hear from corporate owned media without a second thought... In other words Fuck cannabis prohibition, they'll have to fill me with lead if they don't want me to get stoned.
ron paul is somewhat true for legalization but he is a long shot and will sadly never win before he dies. Our government is like a step dad trying to put a blanket over his step childs face.
Anyone ever wonder why god would make Hell Permaneant? Forever?(that's quite a long time for not beliving in jesus or god because you never heard of him? I quit wondering the first year I visited these forums and saw all the documentries and the quotes by our for farthers and modern scientist's that arnt reciving money in any way shape or form or writting a book but still say it's medicine. Long live the Empire! Obama can do No Wrong!
Doesn't meet modern standard of safe or effective medicine? Okay, so you guys can hand out pills that kill 37,485 people a year? (Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., Times analysis shows - Los Angeles Times). Cannabis kills 0 people per year! (Marijuana Smoking Doesn't Kill). Addiction? Marijuana is not physically addictive at all! PsychologyToday found that it "The large majority of people who try marijuana do it experimentally and never become addicted" and "marijuana is not very addicting" (Is Marijuana Addictive? | Psychology Today). Marijuana is also not linked to any lung cancer or emphysema cases, it's inhaling burned plant matter, so of course it can irritate lungs, but saying it causes diseases is a huge stretch. Also, how is it not a benign drug if it has killed NOBODY, ever? So you say it has no medical benefits but FEDERALLY provide marijuana for a small number of patients? Pure hypocrisy... Where is any evidence that cannabis is linked to any of that? Of course drug use is bad, but cannabis is NOT the drug that causes any of those problems.. How does alcoholism and hard drugs even relate to the use of cannabis? Linking cannabis with alcohol and other drugs is completely ignorant, and it's pathetic how you cling to cannabis as the cause of the USA's problems... It's not cannabis, it's YOU! That's a shit load of wasted money! We could invest that into the failing economy or into education, as our country is wasting money! Wow, I can't believe they still push this crap to the public and they just eat it up... I wish Ron Paul would bring up these facts and enlighten the public that being able to experiment with your own consciousness is part of our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and that NOBODY should be able to be sovereign our own minds.