Colorado becomes third state to ask DEA to reclassify pot

[23536]

Colorado has become the third state to ask the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana in a way that allows doctors to prescribe it as a medical treatment.

The state asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana from Schedule 1, a category that includes heroin, to Schedule 2. The change would allow doctors to prescribe pot and pharmacies to fill marijuana prescriptions.

The governors of Rhode Island and Washington have made similar requests. The letter came from the head of Colorado's Department of Revenue, the agency that oversees the state's booming medical marijuana business.

"There is a lack of certainty necessary to provide safe access for patients with serious medical conditions," wrote Revenue Director Barbara Brohl in a letter sent Dec. 22. It wasn't released to the public until Wednesday because of the holiday.

Last month, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee sent similar letters to the DEA. They asked that the government list marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug, meaning it would remain a controlled substance but could be prescribed by doctors and dispensed by pharmacies.

Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA, which means the drug is considered to be without medicinal value and is illegal in all circumstances.

Gregoire and Chafee have both blocked plans to license medical marijuana dispensaries, citing fears of federal interference. They complained in their letters that "the divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients who may need medical cannabis."

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45810582/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#

 

[23536]

When it becomes schedule 2, it may be impractical for most people to get it prescribed. They would have to return to their doctor every time they needed to re-up, and the doctor would have to write a triplicate prescription that could be easily tracked by government databases, jeopardizing that doctor's medical license. Probably easier then to buy it on the street.

 

[severely etarded]

When it becomes schedule 2, it may be impractical for most people to get it prescribed. They would have to return to their doctor every time they needed to re-up, and the doctor would have to write a triplicate prescription that could be easily tracked by government databases, jeopardizing that doctor's medical license. Probably easier then to buy it on the street.

Sounds like getting dextroamphetamine or oxy

 

[thiz master]

If you say it's medicine don't bitch about it when they actually treat it like medicine guys. They can medicinalize or legalize but right now everyone is arguing about the medical properties trying to make it legal in some sense. I think that if it is medicinalized then maybe even more people will be around it and realize its harmless and then take it a step further to full legalization

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

It shouldn't be C-II anyway. I'd say more along the lines of C-IV.

 

[yteek]

They need to just ask for full legalization, nothing against the medical side but today's medical marijuana is primarily based around recreational users. Yeah there are people who legitimately need it but I think its just turned into one big sham...lets be honest.

 

[Serotonin101]

Walgreens is gonna smell awesome...

 

[DroneLore]

If you say it's medicine don't bitch about it when they actually treat it like medicine guys. They can medicinalize or legalize but right now everyone is arguing about the medical properties trying to make it legal in some sense. I think that if it is medicinalized then maybe even more people will be around it and realize its harmless and then take it a step further to full legalization

I agree, however I fear that were it to be medicinalized federally, the decriminalization/legalization movement would lose all momentum and it would forever be in the same category as oxy and dex...which is heroin really that much worse than those anyway? There are lots of pharmaceutical opiates that are significantly stronger than heroin nowadays. But I digress...

Fucking federal government though, they aren't supposed to be involved in this sorta shit at all. It's so frustrating to think about.

 

[Biovail]

I agree, however I fear that were it to be medicinalized federally, the decriminalization/legalization movement would lose all momentum and it would forever be in the same category as oxy and dex...which is heroin really that much worse than those anyway? There are lots of pharmaceutical opiates that are significantly stronger than heroin nowadays. But I digress...

Fucking federal government though, they aren't supposed to be involved in this sorta shit at all. It's so frustrating to think about.

This. Making the drugs schedule II is probably the best way to put a damper on the legalization movement.

And for god's sake... It's a plant that grows in the fucking dirt.

 

[mgrady3]

i'd rather not go to walgreens to fill an Rx for my pot. Who knows what shit you'd be getting. You think the pharmacist at walgreens is going to sit down with you and talk strains or just dump some bricked out bud into a plastic bottle.

 

[DexterMeth]

I agree, however I fear that were it to be medicinalized federally, the decriminalization/legalization movement would lose all momentum and it would forever be in the same category as oxy and dex...which is heroin really that much worse than those anyway? There are lots of pharmaceutical opiates that are significantly stronger than heroin nowadays. But I digress...

Fucking federal government though, they aren't supposed to be involved in this sorta shit at all. It's so frustrating to think about.

Once a doper becomes a vet, he or she uses heroin when they can't get stronger pure grade pharms. The power elite hate capitalism, because they are already rich, but I digress, as heroin should be relegalized, out of ending the war on free market economics alone. -Wait, you can't stop the market, now this government thing is starting to make some sense.

 

[queenbee1127]

Probably easier then to buy it on the street.

This is where probably 50%+ of medical marijuana ends up anyways. Dealers get medical cards and buy in quantity, and in turn sell it to their friends. Even if you're not a dealer and have a medical card, chances are you take money from your friends to buy them pot at the dispensary every now and then when their normal dealer is out.

At least, this is what I have experienced in Denver, where we have a crazy medical marijuana industry. I can't remember the last time I got shit weed because a large majority of it comes from a dispensary in one way or another.

The way I see it, moving marijuana to schedule 2 would not only decrease the penalties of being caught with the drug without a prescription, but getting a straight up prescription instead of a medical card would be much more economical because you don't have to pay the fee for the card itself, and the fees associated with renewing and maintaining your medical status. I've said it before in other threads related to medical marijuana but being a medical card holder is not an inexpensive treat, they wring you for every dime. I've had friends who thought it was awesome initially, but declined to renew their cards because of the associated costs in addition to the marijuana they were purchasing.