Live data from Hacker News

DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

reason.com

71–80 of 96 posts

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#71
Anyone who's shocked at the government's anti-scientific and immoral posturing about drugs is missing the point. This isn't about science or ethics or justice. It's about money.

The US government uses drug laws to take billions of dollars from citizens every year, without having to convict or even charge them with any crime. Civil asset forfeiture allows the government to take your money, car, house, or anything else they want for any reason, and all they have to do is say they suspect your property was somehow connected to a drug crime.

Law enforcement agencies at all levels are on the take, from local cops and sheriffs on up, and the feds give kickbacks to local agencies when they contribute their loot to the feds in return for less accountability and restrictions.

This naked corruption is all you need to understand why the feds so desperately want to keep these drug laws in place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United...

https://reason.com/2021/06/11/when-is-a-civil-forfeiture-bas...

https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/03/civil-asse...

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#72

I am reminded, from time to time, that one of my high school classmates is living out a 25-year federal sentence after being convicted on marijuana conspiracy charges. On the other hand, I can get marijuana delivered to my house.

What's worse is realizing that the majority of people in jail for selling even the smallest amount of weed are black, while the majority of people who own legal pot dispensaries churning out industrial levels of weed are white. Add in the famous Eichmann quote, and it really seems like this is a deliberate result of the system.

>Add in the famous Eichmann

Pretty amusing mistake, but I think you mean Ehrlichman.

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#73

I am reminded, from time to time, that one of my high school classmates is living out a 25-year federal sentence after being convicted on marijuana conspiracy charges. On the other hand, I can get marijuana delivered to my house.

Reminds me of some NOFX lyrics. Jerry spent some time in Michigan A twenty year vacation, after all he had a dime A dime is worth a lot more in Detroit A dime in California, a twenty dollar fine Note that "a dime" refers to a "dime-bag" of weed, or $10 worth of the stuff. 20 years in prison for personal possession in Michigan (at the time), while it was a $20 infraction in California for the same amount.

Is this from The Decline?

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#74
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am reminded, from time to time, that one of my high school classmates is living out a 25-year federal sentence after being convicted on marijuana conspiracy charges. There has to be more to this right? Trafficking tons of the stuff? Repeat offender? Violent history? enhancements? see also: https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentenc... edit, since people clearly are against this comment: I'm not…

they were allegedly involved in a project that moved marijuana across the south by truck, and they were the only defendants who did not plead guilty and agree to a deal, and were subsequently the only ones sent away for real time. my partial understanding is that they were involved in the laundering and/or obfuscation of funds, they probably had strong suspicions about what was going on, but there was enough easy mon…

>they refused to admit to things in a plea that they did not do or have knowledge of. which was the wrong call

What a sickening system. No better than the inquisition. Confess and repent, or suffer torture. At least the inquisition let you change your mind.

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#75
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's worse is realizing that the majority of people in jail for selling even the smallest amount of weed are black, while the majority of people who own legal pot dispensaries churning out industrial levels of weed are white. Add in the famous Eichmann quote, and it really seems like this is a deliberate result of the system.

>Add in the famous Eichmann Pretty amusing mistake, but I think you mean Ehrlichman.

Ugh, I did, but that is pretty funny! To be perfectly clear, here's the quote I was referencing: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1522294

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#76

I am reminded, from time to time, that one of my high school classmates is living out a 25-year federal sentence after being convicted on marijuana conspiracy charges. On the other hand, I can get marijuana delivered to my house.

What's worse is realizing that the majority of people in jail for selling even the smallest amount of weed are black, while the majority of people who own legal pot dispensaries churning out industrial levels of weed are white. Add in the famous Eichmann quote, and it really seems like this is a deliberate result of the system.

Yep. It's truly saddening and somewhat enraging.

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#77

What bullshit. I have a prescription for a cream containing CBD and THC that has almost totally removed arthritis pain in my hands. Really life changing for me.

Placebo effect. CBD and THC are not well absorbed topically and there's no data on transdermal bioavailability, so the effective dosage would be unscientific and unknown. The majority of CBD creams fall within the category of snake oil to dupe consumers into spending money just as they do on beauty products. THC absorption by the skin is very low.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12100860/

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#78
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Add in the famous Eichmann Pretty amusing mistake, but I think you mean Ehrlichman.

Ugh, I did, but that is pretty funny! To be perfectly clear, here's the quote I was referencing: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1522294

That's a bit of partisan rewriting of history by Democrats who want to distance themselves from their role in the drug war.

The fact is, the Controlled Substances Act [1] passed both houses of Congress with near unanimous approval, and the war on drugs was still supported by Democrats like Clinton and even Biden decades later. [2]

And most of the arrests aren't made by the DEA, they are made by local police in jurisdictions controlled by Democrats (including many black Democrats).

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act

2: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/j...

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh, I did, but that is pretty funny! To be perfectly clear, here's the quote I was referencing: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1522294

That's a bit of partisan rewriting of history by Democrats who want to distance themselves from their role in the drug war. The fact is, the Controlled Substances Act [1] passed both houses of Congress with near unanimous approval, and the war on drugs was still supported by Democrats like Clinton and even Biden decades later. [2] And most of the arrests aren't made by the DEA, they are made by local police in jurisd…

Where do Democrats come in here? This is a direct quote from an individual. Democrats certainly share blame in this mess, I don't think I or anyone in this thread implied otherwise.

Re: DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No ‘Accepted Medical Use'

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bit of partisan rewriting of history by Democrats who want to distance themselves from their role in the drug war. The fact is, the Controlled Substances Act [1] passed both houses of Congress with near unanimous approval, and the war on drugs was still supported by Democrats like Clinton and even Biden decades later. [2] And most of the arrests aren't made by the DEA, they are made by local police in jurisd…

Where do Democrats come in here? This is a direct quote from an individual. Democrats certainly share blame in this mess, I don't think I or anyone in this thread implied otherwise.

Is it even a direct quote? It first appeared in public in 2016, over 15 years after Ehrlichman's death, and has been challenged by numerous people.[1]

But I'm not here to argue about the alleged quote, I'm here to dispute the broader claim that the war on drugs was somehow manufactured by Nixon to target his enemies. The war on drugs was bipartisan from the beginning.

So if you believe that the racial disparities might be "a deliberate result of the system", as you said, then blame for that would extend far beyond Nixon, right up to our current President.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ehrlichman#Drug_war_quote

Post reply on HN