Will marijuana play a role in the future of American politics?
If people let government decide which food they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
– Thomas Jefferson
“Ready or not, marijuana is fueling massive change and has become a mainstream topic of significant importance to people of all ages in most households across America,” says Dr. David Bearman, expert in the history and role of marijuana. “Right now, all but four states have legalized at least some form of medical cannabis and the legalization of recreational use is growing faster than ever before.
“While neither political party has made marijuana a major centerpiece for discussion, marijuana politics stands to make a major difference in state and national political outcomes in the next elections.”
Dr. Bearman says that medical marijuana matters to the young, middle aged, and the old.
“It is more widely used, enjoyed, and appreciated than any of its detractors is willing to admit. There are numerous political candidates seeking to reform federal marijuana policies - from pushing to protect state laws to advocating marijuana's reclassification from a Schedule I drug like heroin to Schedule III drug so long term studies can be done on the drug's medical benefits. Cannabis reform is now occurring on multiple fronts.”
An August 2016 study published by Harvard Medical School identifies over 20 million people use medical marijuana in the United States.
A partial list of the known medical marijuana uses now includes:
- As an appetite stimulant in AIDS and chemotherapy patients
- To relieve pain (and its use is being recommended to doctors in lieu of prescribing opiates)
- To help treat inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
- To treat chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting
- To treat muscle spasticity and pain in multiple sclerosis
- To reduce the growth of cancers
- To treat cancer-related pain not managed by other pain medication
- To treat drug-resistant epilepsy, particularly in children
- To treat psychiatric disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance use disorders, and bipolar disorder)
- To reduce the symptoms of conditions in the autism spectrum disorder
- To reduce the side effects of treatment for Hepatitis C (nausea, fatigue, muscle aches, and depression).
- To reduce the symptoms of autoimmune disease (e.g. Rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, fibromyalgia, Restless Leg Syndrome, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome)
- To help people get to sleep, get better quality sleep and awaken without a drug hangover
Although marijuana can help relieve the symptoms of many medical conditions and is used as medicine most states, its use is still prohibited by federal level. In something of a Catch-22, the DEA and FDA complain that there is no data from large, long-term, well-designed studies. In order to say that, they have to ignore at least 20 tincture of cannabis/Nabixamol studies that have been done in the UK.
These double-blind studies can only be legally done with the government’s cannabis, and the government rarely approves such studies. Why? Marijuana was made illegal in 1970s for political reasons and similar political reasons remain. The DEA seems more concerned with job protection than science or truth. The Federal Drug Administration continues to have concerns about potential risks versus benefits.
Forty-six states have passed laws, contrary to federal laws, to allow the use of marijuana for medical conditions. States have also made the move to decriminalize recreational marijuana use by adults or have similar measures on upcoming ballots.
“Medical and recreational marijuana is going to energize large portions of the voting populace, particularly among students, those looking for alternative health care options, and minorities,” Dr. Bearman says. “The growing awareness that marijuana is medicine is forcing change.”
One thing is for certain. Any attempts by Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stamp out further legalization efforts is going to be met with a loud public outcry. Their efforts would also be unconstitutional because of the states rights guaranteed by the 9th and 10th amendments as well as the 1925 SCOTUS decision in Linder v. United States that confirmed the regulation of the practice of medicine is a right reserved for the states.
Drugs are Not the Devil’s Tools
Dr. David Bearman
Color $65.00 B&W $45.00
Revised and updated November 2017
8 ½ x 11, 498 pages
Entertaining, lavishly illustrated and full of amazing stories, Drugs are NOT the Devil’s Tools takes the reader through the history of drugs and the origin of the onerous United States drug laws.
Dr. David Bearman shows how, through intertwining motives of discrimination and greed, often under the guise of morality, how those in power have created a drug policy that is completely dysfunctional. He details how drug laws have been very effective in further marginalizing discriminated-against groups and have been a total failure in every other respect.
Additionally, did you know:
- We all have cannabis receptors in our bodies
- Cannabis was legal in the US until 1943 and only removed because the powers that be wanted to get rid of hemp and create a market for nylon and other petroleum-based products
- The American Medical Association opposed the removal of cannabis from pharmacies
- There is no such thing as cannabis addiction
