Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
President Obama announced during the presidential campaign on August 21, 2007 that "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana dispensaries; it is not a good use of our resources."
On Thursday January 22, 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration, still mostly comprised of officials from the Bush Administration, raided a medical cannabis dispensary in South Lake Tahoe, California.
A spokesman of the marijuana advocate Group Americans for Safe Access responded, "We are shocked and awed! For DEA to act with such brazen arrogance and in direct conflict with the new President’s pledge to end federal raids is deeply concerning. With only weeks left in office, it is clear that top DEA officials are using this transitional period to exploit the differences in policy between the old and new administration."
When examining the reasons why a certain action has been taken, the first question one needs to ask is who benefits.
It is usually a factor of simply following the money. The raid in California may ultimately be another response from the pharmaceutical companies that exercise strong influence over groups like the DEA. The pharmaceutical companies ‘bought’ Congress, which as a result passed the Medicare drug coverage legislation.
While that benefit has provided much-needed relief to the elderly and disabled, this writer believes the real point of the legislation was actually to build the pharmaceutical companies profits. Anyone who doubts that needs to review the regulations the Social Security Administration operates under versus the Veterans Administration in regards to purchasing medications.
Often times the VA pays as little as 25% for the same drugs as does the SSA. But the then Republican controlled Congress specifically forbid the SSA from negotiating drug prices!
The bloated profits of the pharmaceutical companies pay for the high-priced lawyers and lobbyists and Congressman to sell the nation into financial ruin, and disguising it as a benefit for the elderly.
The pharmaceutical companies fear seeing medical marijuana advance as a natural effective medicine as they know its increasing legality threatens to potentially devastate their treasured "bottom line", says Medical Marijuana Expert Dr. Phillip Leveque, who also writes for Salem-News.com.
Situations and attitudes change and progress in this world, and the Drug Enforcement Agency, still insistent on raiding California legal cannabis dispensaries, needed to swallow that bitter pill of understanding. Both political parties are corrupted by the present governmental system, but the Bush Administration perfected the looting of the public treasury and the environment for the benefit of their friends and themselves. This writer sincerely hopes the Obama Administration is better ethically, but as a small government loving Libertarian, I will not be terribly shocked if it is not.
Last week, on February 25th with DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that ending federal medical marijuana raids "is now American policy." That statement comes from America's top cop, you could say. It has many people in the medical movement smiling, if not purely amazed.
It should be noted that the following Organizations have endorsed medical access to marijuana include:
the Institute of Medicine,
the American Academy of Family Physicians;
American Bar Association;
American Nurses Association;
American Public Health Association;
American Society of Addiction Medicine;
AIDS Action Council;
British Medical Association;
California Academy of Family Physicians;
California Legislative Council for Older Americans;
California Medical Association;
California Nurses Association;
California Pharmacists Association;
California Society of Addiction Medicine;
California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church;
Colorado Nurses Association;
Consumer Reports Magazine;
Kaiser Permanente;
Lymphoma Foundation of America;
Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network;
National Association of Attorneys General;
National Association of People with AIDS;
National Nurses Society on Addictions;
New Mexico Nurses Association;
New York State Nurses Association;
New England Journal of Medicine;
and Virginia Nurses Association.
Just when will the stupidity of the federal government's attacks on medical marijuana end? Not soon enough I fear, but if Holder's words hold true, then maybe it already did happen. Acknowledgment: I wish to acknowledge extensive use of materials prepared by NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, along with materials from ProCon.org. and the National Library of Medicine.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Salem-News.com
Author: Dorsett Bennett
Copyright: 2009 Salem-News.com
Contact: newsroom@salem-news.com
Website: Illegal Drugs: Part Six -- Medical Marijuana and the Pharmaceutical Industry - Salem-News.Com
On Thursday January 22, 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration, still mostly comprised of officials from the Bush Administration, raided a medical cannabis dispensary in South Lake Tahoe, California.
A spokesman of the marijuana advocate Group Americans for Safe Access responded, "We are shocked and awed! For DEA to act with such brazen arrogance and in direct conflict with the new President’s pledge to end federal raids is deeply concerning. With only weeks left in office, it is clear that top DEA officials are using this transitional period to exploit the differences in policy between the old and new administration."
When examining the reasons why a certain action has been taken, the first question one needs to ask is who benefits.
It is usually a factor of simply following the money. The raid in California may ultimately be another response from the pharmaceutical companies that exercise strong influence over groups like the DEA. The pharmaceutical companies ‘bought’ Congress, which as a result passed the Medicare drug coverage legislation.
While that benefit has provided much-needed relief to the elderly and disabled, this writer believes the real point of the legislation was actually to build the pharmaceutical companies profits. Anyone who doubts that needs to review the regulations the Social Security Administration operates under versus the Veterans Administration in regards to purchasing medications.
Often times the VA pays as little as 25% for the same drugs as does the SSA. But the then Republican controlled Congress specifically forbid the SSA from negotiating drug prices!
The bloated profits of the pharmaceutical companies pay for the high-priced lawyers and lobbyists and Congressman to sell the nation into financial ruin, and disguising it as a benefit for the elderly.
The pharmaceutical companies fear seeing medical marijuana advance as a natural effective medicine as they know its increasing legality threatens to potentially devastate their treasured "bottom line", says Medical Marijuana Expert Dr. Phillip Leveque, who also writes for Salem-News.com.
Situations and attitudes change and progress in this world, and the Drug Enforcement Agency, still insistent on raiding California legal cannabis dispensaries, needed to swallow that bitter pill of understanding. Both political parties are corrupted by the present governmental system, but the Bush Administration perfected the looting of the public treasury and the environment for the benefit of their friends and themselves. This writer sincerely hopes the Obama Administration is better ethically, but as a small government loving Libertarian, I will not be terribly shocked if it is not.
Last week, on February 25th with DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that ending federal medical marijuana raids "is now American policy." That statement comes from America's top cop, you could say. It has many people in the medical movement smiling, if not purely amazed.
It should be noted that the following Organizations have endorsed medical access to marijuana include:
the Institute of Medicine,
the American Academy of Family Physicians;
American Bar Association;
American Nurses Association;
American Public Health Association;
American Society of Addiction Medicine;
AIDS Action Council;
British Medical Association;
California Academy of Family Physicians;
California Legislative Council for Older Americans;
California Medical Association;
California Nurses Association;
California Pharmacists Association;
California Society of Addiction Medicine;
California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church;
Colorado Nurses Association;
Consumer Reports Magazine;
Kaiser Permanente;
Lymphoma Foundation of America;
Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network;
National Association of Attorneys General;
National Association of People with AIDS;
National Nurses Society on Addictions;
New Mexico Nurses Association;
New York State Nurses Association;
New England Journal of Medicine;
and Virginia Nurses Association.
Just when will the stupidity of the federal government's attacks on medical marijuana end? Not soon enough I fear, but if Holder's words hold true, then maybe it already did happen. Acknowledgment: I wish to acknowledge extensive use of materials prepared by NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, along with materials from ProCon.org. and the National Library of Medicine.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Salem-News.com
Author: Dorsett Bennett
Copyright: 2009 Salem-News.com
Contact: newsroom@salem-news.com
Website: Illegal Drugs: Part Six -- Medical Marijuana and the Pharmaceutical Industry - Salem-News.Com
