Jeff Sessions Goes After Medical Marijuana

[Farmer77]

Jeff Sessions Wants to Go After Medical Marijuana

 A letter Sessions sent to Congress last month has come to light, requesting elimination of a bipartisan appropriations provision prohibiting use of federal funds to interfere with legal medical-marijuana regimes. The basis of the request was pretty clear:

“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime,” Sessions wrote in a letter to Republican and Democratic House and Senate leadership. “The Department must be in a position to use all laws available to combat the transnational drug organizations and dangerous drug traffickers who threaten American lives.”

 

[Farmer77]

Sessions’s citing of a “historic drug epidemic” to justify a crackdown on medical marijuana is at odds with what researchers know about current drug use and abuse in the United States. The epidemic Sessions refers to involves deadly opiate drugs, not marijuana. A growing body of research (acknowledged by the National Institute on Drug Abuse) has shown that opiate deaths and overdoses actually decrease in states with medical marijuana laws on the books.

[Dark_Grey]

2 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

requesting elimination of a bipartisan appropriations provision prohibiting use of federal funds to interfere with legal medical-marijuana regimes.

Can you translate this for an idiot like me? Is Sessions going after legal pot or what?

[Farmer77]

Just now, Dark_Grey said:

Can you translate this for an idiot like me? Is Sessions going after legal pot or what?

He's going after legal pot but he's playing the long game. What he's trying to do is remove a rule which says the federal government wont interfere with a states decision as it pertains to marijuana. Apparently that rule cant be changed until the next year so he is just laying the ground work with the letter he sent. 

 

[Dark_Grey]

2 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

He's going after legal pot but he's playing the long game. What he's trying to do is remove a rule which says the federal government wont interfere with a states decision as it pertains to marijuana. Apparently that rule cant be changed until the next year so he is just laying the ground work with the letter he sent. 

 

Ah ok. So he wants to expand Federal powers until he can squeeze it out. Even though the medical Marijuana industry is in full boom, even though over 60% of the country wants it legalized, he is still going after it. This is what happens when your age starts to interfere with your job. Sessions is a stupid, short-sighted relic from a different time.

[Farmer77]

Just now, Dark_Grey said:

Ah ok. So he wants to expand Federal powers until he can squeeze it out. Even though the medical Marijuana industry is in full boom, even though over 60% of the country wants it legalized, he is still going after it. This is what happens when your age starts to interfere with your job. Sessions is a stupid, short-sighted relic from a different time.

That's actually a positive outlook, at least that can be forgiven. Ive become too cynical i think  

I feel like these headlines from just after the election probably play a large part as well Private prisons back Trump and could see big payoffs with new policies    Sessions rolled back plan to end private prisons.

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by Farmer77

[Imaginarynumber1]

Want to shut down drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives? Go after Purdue Pharma, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Covidien, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals. These are the drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives. These are the organizations that are responsible for my city being in the grips of the worst opioid epidemic it has ever seen. At least 1 person dies a day in Columbus from an overdose.

[ian hacktorp]

5 hours ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Want to shut down drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives? Go after Purdue Pharma, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Covidien, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals. These are the drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives. These are the organizations that are responsible for my city being in the grips of the worst opioid epidemic it has ever seen. At least 1 person dies a day in Columbus from an overdose.

Add to that list US military protection of poppy fields in Afghanistan...that's where it all starts.  Shut down the opium pipeline at its source.

PS: Sessions will never put the weed genie back in the bottle...that battle is over.

[Imaginarynumber1]

24 minutes ago, hacktorp said:

Add to that list US military protection of poppy fields in Afghanistan...that's where it all starts.  Shut down the opium pipeline at its source.

PS: Sessions will never put the weed genie back in the bottle...that battle is over.

I agree. I think they lost that battle when Colorado legalized recreational use. It's just a matter of when now for the rest of the country.

 

Oh yeah, and let's not forget the fun the CIA had always had with drug trafficking. 

Edited June 15, 2017 by Imaginarynumber1

[preacherman76]

15 hours ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Want to shut down drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives? Go after Purdue Pharma, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Covidien, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals. These are the drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives. These are the organizations that are responsible for my city being in the grips of the worst opioid epidemic it has ever seen. At least 1 person dies a day in Columbus from an overdose.

We don't agree on much, but I certainly agree with you here. Over 100,000 people die every year in this country because of prescription drugs. Instead they want to ban Kratom. One of the only completely natural products that help people get off opioids. Even after the public won on that front, they are currently proposing bills to ban it through the back door. WTF is wrong with these people?

We need to take the teeth out of the governments ability to harm legal pot suppliers. I think asking the government to ignore the laws is the wrong course of action. We need the laws to be changed.

[preacherman76]

9 hours ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

I agree. I think they lost that battle when Colorado legalized recreational use. It's just a matter of when now for the rest of the country.

 

Oh yeah, and let's not forget the fun the CIA had always had with drug trafficking. 

We will see. I think Sessions will do it just like 0bama did. He wont just have massive raids. That will bring to much backlash. No he will isolate them individually and take down one at a time.

[Imaginarynumber1]

1 hour ago, preacherman76 said:

We don't agree on much, but I certainly agree with you here. Over 100,000 people die every year in this country because of prescription drugs. Instead they want to ban Kratom. One of the only completely natural products that help people get off opioids. Even after the public won on that front, they are currently proposing bills to ban it through the back door. WTF is wrong with these people?

We need to take the teeth out of the governments ability to harm legal pot suppliers. I think asking the government to ignore the laws is the wrong course of action. We need the laws to be changed.

I see people die every single night because of opioids. There aren't enough treatment centers there isn't enough money to fund treatment centers, but the drug companies make billions off pain medication and peddle it like candy. 

 

But obviously weed is the real problem drug....

Edited June 15, 2017 by Imaginarynumber1

[aztek]

of course he would, just think about what a hit legal system would take weed is legal. weed is a floodgate for police abuse.

[preacherman76]

5 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

I see people die every single night because of opioids. There aren't enough treatment centers there isn't enough money to fund treatment centers, but the drug companies make billions off pain medication and peddle it like candy. 

 

But obviously weed is the real problem drug....

Yea my wife see the same thing, though not as often. She works for hospice. Those unlucky enough to not out right die from opioids, and end up a vegetable for a few months often find their way to her facility.

I bet there isn't one of them that didn't wish pot was there main drug problem. 

[Yamato]

https://www.marijuana.com/news/2016/09/every-49-seconds-an-american-is-arrested-for-marijuana-possession/

Since 2009 we've been moving in the right direction at least.  But with ~500,000 arrests annually there's a lot of battle still to fight. 

Ending US foreign policy in Afghanistan?   That's a good one, you guys. 

Sticking it to the pharmaceutical companies is a political non-starter too, because they own the politicians.   Subsidizing their poisons with brute force is the operative definition of "health care" in this country whenever an official utters those words.   It's a double misnomer too because it has nothing to do with health or with care.

While "the Left" seems to be better on the marijuana issue than "the Right" one would never know this from the two steaming pile candidates the two parties handed us in our last election.   Probably another anomaly that helped make the Dread Lady Hillary Rodham lose the race.   The only other question I have is, what's good with Rick Perry?

[+and-then]

On 6/15/2017 at 9:07 AM, preacherman76 said:

Yea my wife see the same thing, though not as often. She works for hospice. Those unlucky enough to not out right die from opioids, and end up a vegetable for a few months often find their way to her facility.

I bet there isn't one of them that didn't wish pot was there main drug problem. 

I wonder how many of them began their career of getting high with marijuana?  People rarely begin drug use with heavy duty opioids.  Usually the journey to that use begins either with weed or alcohol or both.  And NO, I am not saying that weed always leads to other addictions.  Frankly, if it was legalized for use by adults, taxed heavily and that money used ONLY for treatment centers and outpatient rehab, I think we'd be better off.  I'd insist on extreme penalties for those who provided it to children below the age of 18.  We'd also save huge amounts of money on incarceration of weed offenders and take a big bite out of the profits of the Cartels.

[preacherman76]

57 minutes ago, and then said:

I wonder how many of them began their career of getting high with marijuana?  People rarely begin drug use with heavy duty opioids.  Usually the journey to that use begins either with weed or alcohol or both.  And NO, I am not saying that weed always leads to other addictions.  Frankly, if it was legalized for use by adults, taxed heavily and that money used ONLY for treatment centers and outpatient rehab, I think we'd be better off.  I'd insist on extreme penalties for those who provided it to children below the age of 18.  We'd also save huge amounts of money on incarceration of weed offenders and take a big bite out of the profits of the Cartels.

I couldn't really say. I'd be willing to bet Doctors and drug companies are more responsible for opioid addiction then anyone else though. 

 

[Big Jim]

1 hour ago, and then said:

I wonder how many of them began their career of getting high with marijuana?  People rarely begin drug use with heavy duty opioids.  Usually the journey to that use begins either with weed or alcohol or both.  And NO, I am not saying that weed always leads to other addictions.  Frankly, if it was legalized for use by adults, taxed heavily and that money used ONLY for treatment centers and outpatient rehab, I think we'd be better off.  I'd insist on extreme penalties for those who provided it to children below the age of 18.  We'd also save huge amounts of money on incarceration of weed offenders and take a big bite out of the profits of the Cartels.

I agree, mostly.  If marijuana leads to harder drug use it is because of its illegality rather than any effect of the drug itself.  Being illegal forces users to have to deal with people who may peddle other drugs.  If they happen to be out of weed they have no hesitation about recommending something else.  That doesn't happen with liquor because it is legal, but controlled.  If my favorite wine is unavailable no one tries to sell me vodka.  If you could buy a pack of joints along with your 12 pack down at the local convenience store most marijuana users would never meet with the opportunity to try heroin.  Most people, regardless of their intoxicant of choice, find their niche and stay there.  There are addictive personality types that will abuse almost anything, but nothing in the substances themselves that compel you to try something harder.  Weed doesn't make you want heroin any more than beer makes you want rum.  With most drugs, or drinks, someone has to introduce you to it.  Legalizing marijuana would remove most of the opportunity to be introduced to stronger drugs.  It's much more difficult for children to get alcohol than drugs precisely because it is so tightly controlled.

[hatecraft]

What a waste of time and money. 

[Farmer77]

3 hours ago, and then said:

I wonder how many of them began their career of getting high with marijuana?  People rarely begin drug use with heavy duty opioids.  Usually the journey to that use begins either with weed or alcohol or both.  And NO, I am not saying that weed always leads to other addictions.  Frankly, if it was legalized for use by adults, taxed heavily and that money used ONLY for treatment centers and outpatient rehab, I think we'd be better off.  I'd insist on extreme penalties for those who provided it to children below the age of 18.  We'd also save huge amounts of money on incarceration of weed offenders and take a big bite out of the profits of the Cartels.

Tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, psychedelics was the route I went as a kid. I clearly remember thinking that I wasnt hooked on weed, it didnt kill me, I was still getting good grades so since the government lied about that they MUST have been lying about other drugs too right? (I never claimed to have been a bright kid LOL) 

I agree with Preacherman though many of our opiate users today began with a legal prescription from a doctor. 

[skliss]

4 hours ago, and then said:

I wonder how many of them began their career of getting high with marijuana?  People rarely begin drug use with heavy duty opioids.  Usually the journey to that use begins either with weed or alcohol or both.  And NO, I am not saying that weed always leads to other addictions.  Frankly, if it was legalized for use by adults, taxed heavily and that money used ONLY for treatment centers and outpatient rehab, I think we'd be better off.  I'd insist on extreme penalties for those who provided it to children below the age of 18.  We'd also save huge amounts of money on incarceration of weed offenders and take a big bite out of the profits of the Cartels.

I read a study years ago about "gateway" drugs that was eye-opening. They decided to go at it in a different way, knowing that not everyone that smokes pot does heroin. They sent out surveys by the thousands to only drug rehab therapists.  The results were stunning... 100% of the therapist said that 100% of their patients started with marijuana! 

I have no problem with medical marijuana just the fact that the system is being abused so badly by those that don't need it for medical reasons. A couple of years ago I was on a long distance drive and was listening to talk radio when the subject was about medical marijuana. This guy called in and talked for about 40 minutes...very knowledgable. He said there are so many ways it's beneficial and the least effective and most detrimental to humans is smoking it. Worse than cigarettes as there is no filter. I wish I could have retained all his obviously lab studied info. I do remember there was a lot of cancer benefits and also as a topical cream.

[Farmer77]

Just now, skliss said:

100% of the therapist said that 100% of their patients started with marijuana! 

The game is fixed though rephrase the question and I guarantee that 100% of their patients started with Alcohol. 

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Farmer77

[skliss]

That wasn't in the article. : )

[Yamato]

100% of people who get in automobile accidents started with bikes and tricycles.

On 6/21/2017 at 8:03 AM, skliss said:

I have no problem with medical marijuana just the fact that the system is being abused so badly by those that don't need it for medical reasons. A couple of years ago I was on a long distance drive and was listening to talk radio when the subject was about medical marijuana. This guy called in and talked for about 40 minutes...very knowledgable. He said there are so many ways it's beneficial and the least effective and most detrimental to humans is smoking it. Worse than cigarettes as there is no filter. I wish I could have retained all his obviously lab studied info. I do remember there was a lot of cancer benefits and also as a topical cream.

A bit late to the thread here but

Marijuana is beneficial to anyone who uses it.  It doesn't suddenly change into something else because some authority figure stands on a podium and declares it "medical".   It is what it is, that doesn't change.

Worse than cigarettes as there is no filter?   That has nothing to do with marijuana, that'sonly to do with the medium of delivery in how you use it.   You can eat it.  You can drink it.  You can vape it.  You can water pipe it.  All of those options are less toxic than cigarette smoke through a filter.   So is smoking a pipe without a screen or a joint without a filter because instead of smoking 10 cigarettes a day which is about 150 drags, you might only take 1.5 or 2 drags off of a joint.  

So hopefully that helped.  What bad abuse of the system recreational users are committing I have no idea what you're trying to say.   The system itself has huge problems however.

[DingoLingo]

On ‎15‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 5:09 AM, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Want to shut down drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives? Go after Purdue Pharma, Abbott Labs, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Covidien, Watson Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals. These are the drug traffickers and drug organizations who threaten american lives. These are the organizations that are responsible for my city being in the grips of the worst opioid epidemic it has ever seen. At least 1 person dies a day in Columbus from an overdose.

what.. no no.. these are legitimate businesses that are looking after the health of the community.. that's what they tell us when they fund our campains..

 

its all about these days who can line the governments pockets the most.. you fund enough politicians you will get anything blocked or through..