THE NEW YORK TIMES: In newly disclosed documents, federal researchers find that cannabis may have medical uses and is less likely to cause harm than drugs like heroin.
Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.
The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.
The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies involved have not publicly commented on their debates over what amounts to a reconsideration of marijuana at the federal level.
Since 1970, marijuana has been considered a so-called Schedule I drug, a category that also includes heroin. Schedule I drugs have no medical use and a high potential for abuse, and they carry severe criminal penalties under federal trafficking laws.
The documents show that scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration make marijuana a Schedule III drug, alongside the likes of ketamine and testosterone, which are available by prescription. » | Christina Jewett and Noah Weiland | Friday, January 12, 2024
We are certainly living in a topsy-turvy world! Despite the war on cigarette-smoking and tobacco, the West seems to be determined to ease all restrictions on soft drugs like marijuana. I have never ever tried marijuana or any other similar substance in my not-so-short life. I have never been tempted to do so. Such substances have never appealed to me. What I used to enjoy was smoking cigarettes. But the government has increased the prices of cigarettes so much now that their price are totally out of proportion with the pleasure gained from smoking them. A packet of quality cigarettes in the UK now is extortionately expensive. Moreover, there are so many laws governing where one can enjoy a puff that it is virtually impossible to enjoy a smoke outside of one's own home at all! These are the reasons why I quit smoking in 2022. I would never have quit otherwise, because smoking was a source of great pleasure for me.
It is therefore rather annoying that I have been deprived of one of my great pleasures when governments around the West are busy making it far easier to enjoy a substance that has traditionally been frowned upon. I am damn sure that the recreational use of marijuana is NOT healthier than smoking a conventional cigarette. Actually, there are health benefits to smoking cigarettes in moderation; and that is a fact! If you don't believe me, google it! You'll be surprised. – © Mark Alexander
