In May, the DEA finally made its decision on whether or not to agree with the Department of Health and Human Services and move marijuana from Schedule I in the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III, where it would have a more over-the-counter role in society and overall be a lot easier to obtain for research and consumption.
They agreed with the findings, and thus began the long process to change its position on the list. On May 20th, the public comment period began that will last 60 days. We’re about halfway through, and already the DEA have gotten 20,000 comments on the topic. I sorted through a bit of it, and just about everyone in here is in support of the move. Lots of very little to do with the actual subject at hand (discussing specific states and what they should do) but a lot hit the nail on the head.
Here are just a few.
“HHS reached this determination because there exists a widespread understanding in the medical community that cannabis has a legitimate use in the treatment of specific conditions, including pain, and that it can be administered comparatively safely under medical supervision.”
“It is time the United States led the way with progressive drug policy reform. Allow the world to see that we recognize when a policy has completely failed and is broken.”
“Not only is the outcome of Schedule III insufficient, the process of evaluating marijuana’s status on the CSA is also flawed. The administrative review process conducted by the FDA and DEA is, by design, limited in scope and fails to consider the racist origins and impacts of marijuana prohibition which have produced overwhelming negative social, economic, and public health consequences.”
“The use of marinol and smoking marijuana are very crucial for glaucoma patients. marijuana takes the eye pressure down and has been proven by the robert randall case in states vs randall and by the out of time program started by the federal government.”
The comments are clearly from all over the map, it’s fascinating to wade through the different perspectives.
Feel free the check out some more comments here, and even write one of your own.
