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Tag: federal prohibition

  • Huge Cannabis Industry Deal Suggests Federal Legalization Could Be Close

    Huge Cannabis Industry Deal Suggests Federal Legalization Could Be Close

    Rumors of federal cannabis legalization have been brewing ever since key anti-cannabis leaders have left the White House.

    A multi-billion dollar deal between two big cannabis companies could signal that the end of prohibition is near, according to an article in Forbes.

    Canopy Growth, the biggest cannabis company in the world, recently signed a $3.4 billion agreement to acquire the well-known U.S. medical marijuana firm Acreage Holdings.

    However, this deal will not go into effect until after cannabis becomes federally legal in the country.

    Industry experts are now speculating that such a big deal between cannabis companies that are powerful enough to have lobbyists in Washington, D.C. could mean that there is a yet-unannounced plan to legalize the drug soon—perhaps even within the year.

    “Our right to acquire Acreage secures our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists,” reads the Canopy Growth press release on the merger.

    Mike Adams of Forbes and Cannabis Now notes that the company that makes Corona beer owns 37% of Canopy Growth’s equity and has been working with them to make THC-infused beverages in Canada. It looks like “Big Alcohol is becoming Big Cannabis,” Adams writes.

    Rumors of imminent federal cannabis legalization have been brewing ever since shakeups in the White House have removed some key anti-cannabis leaders and replaced them with individuals with a more accepting view on the drug, which remains in the federal Schedule I classification alongside heroin.

    In November 2018, former House Rules Committee chairman Pete Sessions lost his bid for re-election. Sessions was known for blocking any pro-cannabis legislation that came up, which he could do in his position as chairman. With him gone, as well as former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, there is now a clear path for legalization.

    “This is the first Congress in history where, going into it, it seems that broad marijuana reforms are actually achievable,” said Tom Angell of Marijuana Moment early this year.

    At the same time, in February the World Health Organization (WHO) called on the UN to reclassify cannabis to recognize the substance’s medical applications. Like in the U.S., the UN still has cannabis under its most tightly regulated classification and considers it to be “particularly dangerous.” WHO argued in their report that the current classification has fallen behind modern research.

    “The World Health Organization has proposed rescheduling cannabis within international law to take account of the growing evidence for medical applications of the drug, reversing its position held for the past 60 years that cannabis should not be used in legitimate medical practice,” the report reads.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Marijuana Should Be Rescheduled, World Health Organization Says

    Marijuana Should Be Rescheduled, World Health Organization Says

    The UN authority is joining those who are demanding we take another look at marijuana’s classification.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) says that marijuana has been considered a Schedule IV drug, the Single Convention’s most restrictive category, for far too long. They believe marijuana’s current scheduling goes against science, but are making it clear they are stopping short of allowing legalization.

    The international scheduling of drugs was outlined in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, which categorized drugs as most harmful and restricted for medical use in Schedule I to the more relaxed Schedule III.

    Their pattern is consistent with the United States’ scheduling order, up until Schedule IV. Breaking the pattern, the Single Convention defines Schedule IV drugs as an especially dangerous subset of Schedule I drugs requiring special attention and restrictions.

    Currently, marijuana is dual-categorized as Schedule I federally and a Schedule IV drug internationally, which places it on the same level as synthetic opioids.

    The WHO suggests that the marijuana plant and cannabis resins be taken off of Schedule IV, downgrading it to Schedule I internationally. They also want to explicitly state that CBD preparations with a THC content of lower than 0.2% will be considered as “not under international control” in any way.

    They also suggest that cannabis extracts, tinctures, and pharmaceutical THC compounds be taken from Schedule I down to Schedule III.

    Despite all the rescheduling, the WHO is not recommending that any country legalize marijuana, and in fact would consider such a move a violation of some stricter international treaties. However, the move is an admission that most governments have gotten marijuana wrong.

    “The placement of cannabis in the 1961 treaty, in the absence of scientific evidence, was a terrible injustice,” said legalization advocate Michael Krawitz. “Today the World Health Organization has gone a long way towards setting the record straight. It is time for us all to support the World Health Organization’s recommendations and ensure politics don’t trump science.”

    Despite not explicitly advocating for legalization, this may tip the scales in favor of countries that no longer want to enforce marijuana prohibition. Canada and Uruguay, which have decided to legalize marijuana even before the WHO’s announcement, are expected to support the move. More restrictive countries like China and Russia are expected to disapprove.

    The United States’ federal stance remains to be seen. Despite marijuana being legal in some form in more than half of the U.S., some say President Trump’s Attorney General nominee might go either way.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Joe Kennedy III Advocates For Federal Marijuana Legalization

    Joe Kennedy III Advocates For Federal Marijuana Legalization

    Representative Joe Kennedy III detailed his support for federal marijuana legalization in a recent op-ed.

    Representative Joe Kennedy III voiced his support for removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and legalizing it at the national level.

    Kennedy, a Democrat and the US Representative for Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district, penned an op-ed for the health and life sciences magazine Stat in late November that outlined his advocacy for legalization, which he based on the growing number of states with legalization initiatives – including his own home state – and the health benefits attributed to marijuana.

    Due to the federal government’s apparent inability to reconcile these advancements with its stance on legality, Kennedy opined that it should “cede its responsibility – and authority – to thoughtfully regulate marijuana.”

    Kennedy’s position is an about-face from previous statements made on legalization, most notably on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where his support of cannabis prohibition put him at odds with the majority of his party.

    He addressed his reticence in the Stat piece, where he noted that his work with the mental health and addiction communities had made him “skeptical” of marijuana’s alleged benefits. “I’ve heard repeatedly from mental health advocates on the frontlines who have grave concerns about what access to marijuana might do for those prone to abuse,” he explained.

    But Kennedy said that he had also listened to those supporting cannabis legalization, primarily for health reasons, like “the parent whose epileptic child needs marijuana to calm her seizures, [or] the veteran whose trauma it eases [or] the black teen arrested for smoking a joint while his white friends did the same with impunity,” he wrote.

    Through research and conversations with individuals on both sides of the legalization argument, Kennedy said that he had reached the conclusion that “our federal policy on marijuana is badly broken, benefiting neither the elderly man suffering from cancer whom marijuana may help nor the young woman prone to substance abuse disorder whom it may harm.”

    He also noted the negative impact that prohibition has on the economy, citing marijuana businesses forced to implement cash-only transactions due to banks’ reluctance to work with them over federal regulation, and the loss of career and housing opportunities due to restrictions on jobs with and leasing to marijuana retailers.

    “Given the rapid pace of state-level legalization and liberation, I believe we must implement strong, clear and fair federal guidelines,” wrote Kennedy. “To do that requires us to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and legalize it at the federal level.”

    Though he has advocated for legalization, Kennedy also noted that his concerns about the public health issues associated with marijuana remain. But by making cannabis legal at the federal level, he said that health and addiction advocates will have their “best chance” to make sure that tax resources are directed towards consumer safety and treatment through federal regulation.

    “Legalization is not a cure-all,” he concluded. “But [it] would guide states choose to move forward with strong and cearly national standards meant to ensure that all Americans are protected fully and equally.”

    View the original article at thefix.com