Alan Feuer, if you are going to continue to cover this huge and important court case, please change your vernacular about cannabis. It is not "pot", it is not "weed", it is cannabis and it is this young ladies medicine that has kept her seizure free for many days now. I know if you were covering a legal drug like Adderall, you wouldn't be using the street slang "addies" to describe it. That is just poor writing and you can do better.
6
The hypocrisy goes back much further than 2003. In 1980 the Federal Government obained a patent for the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana: delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Since it was manufactured not grown, it was named dronabinol and the patent was sold to Unimed. It is now marketed as Marinol.
11
This is monumental. I wish cannabis activist across our nation and the world would come together and voice their complete and utter outrage at the unjust and unconstitutional prohibition of cannabis during this trial.
How many more American citizens and citizens of the world need to suffer governmental law enforcement over this benign plant?
Should we sit back while states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, North Carolina, Oklahoma,South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia which have all signed laws allowing CBD oil to be used as medicine, prepare to make billions off of the new emerging cannabis industry while at the same time harassing, arresting, incarcerating and breaking up families in their very own states?
Shall we simply sit back and enjoy all the new cannabis businesses which have been created and provide us in privileged states so much peace from looking over our shoulders from local law enforcement?
Do we stand in justice for those still suffering under the unjust and unconstitutional laws attributed to cannabis? If so where are those standing for justice in this new cannabis bOOm?
Completely unscheduling cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act(CSA)= No more arrests and open banking for the new emerging cannabis industry.
No more stressing over a overwhelmingly scientifically proven benign plant.
Time to stop the madness and end cannabis prohibition now.
8
Abuse (or even misuse) of marijuana has never caused an overdose death, yet it is listed a Schedule I (one) drug; the most dangerous. In 2016 alone the drug fentanyl killed over 20,000 US citizens. Fentanyl is listed as a Schedule II (two) drug, which means less dangerous. Keeping marijuana listed a schedule I drug effectively keeps all cultivars of cannabis illegal. This includes the cannabis subspecies commonly known as hemp, even though hemp is not a drug. If cannabis were made legal, cultivation of hemp would be mde legal. Legal hemp would present intense competition to entrenched industries such as timber, textiles, and cosmetics. It isn't marijuana that AG Sessions is trying to keep illegal. It is hemp.
5
Benefits of pot? Surely you jest. I've seen the effects of pot in my counseling practice and college teaching and one family member and his friends. Marijuana slows reaction time when driving, causing traffic accidents, reduces motivation to earn an honest living and pay your own way in life, causes neglect of children. I do not want to live in Pothead Nation.
Marijuana is a weed that grows throughout the world and can be eaten without any processing to gain its beneficial effects. Banning a healthful plant is irrational.
It was made a bete noire of the right because of their racism and their fear of sexuality.
I began using weed in college and for over 50 years I have benefited very much from its effects and from its medical properties. It cured my pollen allergy years ago, after trying many legal medicines without result and it has enhanced my work and career as an artist.
Maybe its time for everyone to drop out and turn on again and make a better society than the oppressive, fascist hell Trump and his minions are taking us all to.
5
I have never used marijuana and so I know little about its effects.
I think the Federal Government should be encouraging drug companies to develop medicines and conduct blind studies to determine their effectiveness.
Anecdotal claims of effectiveness are too strong to ignore but will never convince those who are against making medical pot legal.
It seems almost impossible to me that none of the compounds in cannabis could have beneficial uses. As an aging citizen I hope some effective medicines can be developed from cannabis that will ease what time has in store for me.
7
Right? This is very concerning, children should not be smoking or taking unnecessary drugs. The best solution is a high health fat diet. Please be aware that in Spanish countries the men don't take care of children and some women can not either. Sometimes they expect the child to behave like a robot rather than taking care of and educating them cause they don't know how to take care of children. Make sure you have options, and modern Orphanages, with lots of professional staff and supervison might be an idea.
1
You obviously have never used it, nor seen the benefits of its use. No one is forcing anyone to smoke it (not even children) or ingest it but we should have the right to use it for ourselves as we choose to. However, we do FORCE opiates and other debilitating drugs on patients, we advertise alcohol and we allow the idea that drinking and having a good time is great. Look at TV for a little while and look at all the drugs being legally pushed out for depression, anxiety, arthritis, insomnia and then wait for all the colorful side effects that go with them. For parents with children that have no other options, or no other healthy options (looking at you Big Pharma) then CBD/THC is a solution.
Education is key, I agree with you. Teach your children that everything comes with time, just like you may enjoy a glass of wine or a beer on a hot afternoon but you wouldn't dare give it to your child. Teach them that cannabis although safe, can play a major role in mental and emotional development and should be avoided until they are mature enough to handle it. Teach them that Heroin, Cocaine, Crack, TIDE PODS are bad for you.
How 'bout dahh?
7
Science and widespread experience have shown marijuana is not addictive and is far less harmful than alcohol. - Yet, more than 600,000 innocent Americans are arrested for simple marijuana possession each year and made second-class citizens - for life! They will forever face large obstacles to decent employment, education, travel, housing, government benefits, and will always go into court with one strike against them. They can even have their children taken away!
25 million Americans are now locked away in this very un-American sub-class because of this bogus "criminal" record. That has a horrible effect on the whole country, being a massive waste of human potential.
The fraudulent marijuana prohibition has never accomplished one positive thing. It has only caused vast amounts of crime, corruption, violence, death and the severe diminishing of everyone's freedom.
There is no more important domestic issue than ending what is essentially the American Inquisition.
26
Truth.
4
A recent exhibit at the British Museum quoted Herodotus as saying the Scythians howled with delight as they inhaled the smoke of burning hemp seeds. Hope this law case succeeds. I used to worry that cannabis would destroy brain cells. Now is seems less harmful than alcohol. Then I thought fillings one's lungs with smoke can't be good for your health, so it is good that tinctures and ointments have recently been developed that spare the lungs. Still, the effects of this herb need to be more thoroughly studied. Still the overall harm caused by prohibition outweighs the potential harm of legalization.
I am quite certain that reefer was already illegal when I picked up my first pipe in the 60s and had been for some time. I have a hard time with making something that grows out of the ground illegal.
I had stopped smoking in the 90s and after 35 years I have picked that pipe and vape again. I am so glad I did. I am not stoned all day but it sure makes growing old a little less burdensome.
15
You still don't have to worry about anything. - The country's leading researcher of marijuana and lung disease, UCLA's Dr. Donald Tashkin, conducted investigations over 30 years, initially believing there must be a causal relationship. But he finally concluded that smoking marijuana does NOT cause cancer or ANY other serious disease.
Tashkin said: "We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use. What we found instead was no association at all, and even some suggestion of a protective effect."
If consumers want to avoid even the minor irritation from smoke, they can partake with edibles or by vaporizers.
12
Is this a "As Applied" or a "Facial" Challenge. That hakes a HUGE difference and is NOT mentioned in any of the media reports.
I have neuropathy which is a painful, chronic disease, one that qualifies for medical cannabis. I don't smoke it, but take it in capsule form as prescribed by my doctor. It cures my pain! Those who live in non-legal states are relegated to terrible options: synthetic pain killers. These are of great benefit to big pharma's bottom line. These drugs deliver terrible side effects, such as brain fog and more. greater dependency results when thresholds are reached. I'm thankful to live in a legal state.
31
I also suffer from debilitating nerve pain, Trigeminal Neuralgia (a.k.a. ,the “suicide disease”), and have taken a wide range of meds that render me a drooling zombie in an effort to control the pain. I have undergone two Gamma Knife surgeries and a stereotactic Rhizotomy...both of which offered limited pain relief. I was despondent until I discovered MMJ. Thank goodness I live in a state where it is legal for medical usage. It is the ONLY thing that provides temporary relief so I can eat or drink! MMJ is a godsend for me; Opioids don’t work (except in HIGH doses in an ER setting) and I am terrified of addiction. Please don’t take away the only thing that offers a reprieve from this horrific pain.
7
I took Civics in junior high. I believe there is this idea called separation of powers where the legislative branch is supposed to make the laws. Shouldn't the plaintiffs be demanding that Congress change existing law and reschedule cannabis? In America, the legislative branch makes the laws. The Executive Branch (Trump Administration) enforces the laws. The judiciary branch is supposed to apply the laws to facts and has some limited ability to develop the law through case law. Here, there seems like there is already a federal law in place: The Controlled Substance Act. The plaintiffs don't like it, so they are suing. The trouble is that even if the law is racist or stupid or hypocritical, the judiciary branch can't just do Congress's job.
They aren't trying to change the CSA (law) they are moving to de-schedule cannabis, citing the government's own hypocrisy concerning it's medicinal value. Congress does not schedule drugs so they can't vote on it.
2
Coincidentally, I happened to re-watch the in-depth Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition before reading this article. As that film and virtually all other examinations of Prohibition make clear, bans on intoxicants like alcohol and marijuana just.don't.work.
Instead, they give rise to massive illegal activity (that could have real benefits if pursued legitimately), ineffective and unfair law enforcement (with high actual and opportunity costs), and discomfiting hypocrisy among politicians and ordinary folks alike. May this lawsuit succeed and sanity prevail, I say (as a teetotaler and non-smoker).
7
What ever happened to states rights? Sad.
9
same thing that happened to individual rights. VERY SAD!
2
Legalize cannabis but treat it as we do alcohol and tobacco. I know this flies in the view of small companies that distrust government and big pharma but we don't sell alcohol and tobacco to children. Small makers can prosper along with big companies. Tax it, regulate it for medicinal and recreational purposes. What's so hard? We've been thinking about this for generations.
Either arrest every pot smoker in the US or change the law.
Even a caveman can figure out this one..
1
So much for this administration's championing of states rights.
16
Some ambitious young executive working at Koch Industries just needs to pitch the right profit-based proposal up the flagpole there. Problem solved.
2
I wish all of us who are functional daily smokers could come out. We would shock you and yes it would draw tremendous ire and hatred. We would make a lot of people mad and a good number of us would be fired. Writing this puts me at risk, eh? Just know this: We manage billions of dollars; patients; clients, students; entire business empires; major sports teams; law firms; and on and on and on. At the end of the day, when all the surprise boils off, prohibition is universally, unequivocally absurd. We are right here, next to you, stoned already, listening to your ridiculous ideas, calmly and quietly.
But none of us will ever step forward because we have too much to lose.
19
Perhaps you should consider moving to a legal state. - I did 10 years ago and have never regreted it. - Have you heard about Maine? - They just made it illegal for employers to fire their workers for their consumption of marijuana away from work, after hours! -- That's coming everywhere.
At the very least, do what you can to support marijuana reform in North Carolina - if it's no more than contributing some money to those willing to risk it all to change things.
6
I'm with you here. I enjoy the benefits from cannabis even though I don't suffer from any extreme medical issues only some aches from arthritis in my back and stress from everyday life (because come on, all this work and no play nowadays gets STRESSFUL) and it helps tremendously. My father is an alcoholic and it gets bad sometimes yet that is perfectly legal and acceptable. You are also right in saying that we are all around, quietly benefiting from the herb but can't say anything because we have too much to lose. I hope that one day common logic wins above this gigantic corporation, oops I mean Government.
6
Hemp is 99% CBD with 0.03% THC. The action of CBD towards THC is to make the THC Buzz Sensation Ineffective. CBD has over 100 Medical Uses. Hemp has 1,000's Industrial Uses. Hemp is illegal because Pharmaceutical Companies want to Monopolize the sales of a Synthetic CBD that will have Horrible Side Effects not found in the Plant. Because the Synthetic Pharmaceutical Companies (DuPont) made Marijuana illegal & all synthetic Marijuana has Horrible Side Effects not found in the Plants.
5
Israel is way ahead of us in terms of medical research into cannabis's CBD health benefits. Why should Americans have this withheld from them due to wanting to disarm hippies and people of color, or harm a foe's business? America is so amazing sometimes, but other times, I just want to grab it by the shoulders like a teenager and say "what ARE you thinking?"
14
Let's get real and split the very legitimate use of medical marijuana in ill people who medically benefit from it, with the huge profit motivations of those 'entrepreneurs' who are building a $50 billion, highly profitable business selling intoxicants to the general public and who are marketing active ingredients in chocolate laced baked goods, gummi bears, and candy pops. As a society we would not allow companies selling nicotine or alcohol to conduct business in this way, nor to appeal to children or to put products in forms that can reasonably be expected to appeal to children from toddlers to teens. No one wants to take THC away from those epileptics who can benefit from the therapy, but on the other hand that is a small, small minority of those enjoying a midday toke in Colorado and elsewhere.
5
"We would not allow companies selling nicotine or alcohol to conduct business in this way"
We would not allow candy flavored tobacco products? Or sweet clove cigarettes? Or mini chocolate liqueur bottles? Or fruity wine coolers? Or cotton candy flavored vodka?
I just don't understand this stubborn, baseless opposition to legalization of a substance that has far fewer adverse health risks than tobacco or alcohol.
7
No. Let's get real and ask ourselves where does the federal government derive the "authority" to regulate (or ban) the non-commercial, intrastate, and especially personal cultivation, possession, and use of any plant. If the commerce clause is the basis for such a prohibition, then effectively the commerce clause has become the "anything goes" clause (i.e. commerce, non-commerce, interstate, intrastate, doesn't matter, Congress can just call it interstate commerce and regulate it as such) and there are no effective limits on Congress's regulatory authority. So where else in the Constitution is the federal government authorized to concern itself with the private gardens of citizens? Now, after you answer that question, please tell me why it matters whether free adults use cannabis privately. We don't arrest people for drinking hard liquor, even when done in a public setting. Why should adults be treated differently for using a plant which has effects that are objectively no worse (and in most cases far less destructive) than those of alcohol? Just because cannabis has medical use doesn't mean that adults should be harassed for using it outside of a medical context. How does that mesh with the notion of individual liberty, limited government, "justice," or our national approach to handling alcohol, nicotine, and even caffeine? Why should the opinion of some who simply disagree with cannabis use be elevated above the liberties of others who wish to enjoy cannabis?
20
Ah yes, the tired old "what about the children" argument.
7
Legalization is inevitable. There's just too much money to be made to stop it.
12
For historical context, don’t stop with Nixon, go all the way back to Hurst and Anslinger and the Marijuana Tax Act.
There is nothing but racial animus there, it was a thin veil to torpedo the hemp industry from challenging Hurst’s timber and pulp holdings that fed his newspaper business.
How many lives has this scam ruined? Glad I’ve lived to see it's end, maybe.
49
Hearst?
3
Legalization of cannabis federally is long overdue. The benefits go beyond medicinal and recreational. Legalization will free up the courts to hear more important matters.
Even so, one finds it difficult to reconcile the promotion of cannabis with anti-smoking laws across the nation. Even if it were made legal it still seems cannabis will remain an underground drug, which, of course most people will manage, I supppse, so long as it is decriminalized.
16
Smoking is becoming an increasingly moot point since consumers are, increasingly, turning to edibles and vaporization to optimize health.
Smoking will likely eventually disappear, and even now, it's just a choice that can easily be avoided.
13
Remember smoking is a decreasing way to use THC, CBDs, and Turenes. I and my wife use CBD topical rubs which are surprisingly helpful! Vaporizing is safer than smoking, many people ingest through eating and direct absorption via dissolving CBD, THC, or both between cheek, gums and under the tongue, I was surprised at how many people legitimately use cannabis for medicinal purposes in Nevada. My education came by sitting in the lobby of medicinal dispensaries and in classes and hearing the stories of so many people. Yes many were long time users, so call some of that harm reduction.
7
Nicotine gum and patches will probably have their equivalents in cannabis form. The edibles market is full of entrepreneurs, and it’s hard to beat American ingenuity when there’s money on the table.
I’m wondering if the private prison system will fight to keep up their populations.
9
This being the NYT, of course, the headline has to focus on the "Trump administration" as if it was the one that made these laws in the first place. I don't recall headlines about how the Obama administration did nothing to actually rid federal statues of this circumstance. Obama merely punted as usual with a "well, we'll just ignore what's on the books" as if that was a real solution. All Session and Trump have done is to say they will enforce the law AS WRITTEN - thus, changing the law, not more policy edicts, is what is really needed.
21
Disagree. Trump and his hand puppet Sessions are going backward to the 1950s in many ways. This is just one way. BTW, medical marijuana has the high taken out and leaves the pain reduction chemicals so what's the reason for not letting med pot alone? It appears that Trump & Co. want to boost sale of opioids, the better to control more of the populace, bankrupt the states and further control to big corporations. I get 60 bucks more in my pay but the states cannot fund their infrastructure projects without more fed funds that the present Admin will give. Thus, the USA gets more and more broken and more people get poor and the rich stomp on all. Make America Bad Some More!
13
Not really. -- Because so many powerful groups profit from the war on marijuana consumers, the issue has become incredibly complex. We have clearly been moving toward legalization in this country and the Cole memorandum was a big part in that process.
If the Republican 'gatekeepers' would ever let marijuana legislation out of committees, the fraudulently enacted prohibition would disintegrate overnight, but these few corrupt dinosaurs will fight to the end to keep the needed debate from happening.
8
"But the climate is very different now." Smoked drugs make everybody do things they wouldn't normally do, even if they don't personally smoke.
3
And alcohol doesn’t?
5
"Smoked drugs make everybody do things they wouldn't normally do, even if they don't personally smoke."
I smoke some pot nearly every night. Then I kick back and listen to some music. It doesn't "force me" to do anything against my will, and never has in the 45+ years I've been smoking it.
9
First we need to called it cannabis.
Marijuana is made up word used to stigmatize cannabis and Latin cultures.
44
This case perfectly illustrates how we've shredded the separation of powers and the constitution. The legislative branch is the one to change this law, something I agree they should do. Money spent on litigation and further enriching a cadre of lawyers would be better spent on public campaigns to demand lawmakers - not unelected and unaccountable judges, or almost worse, a rotating list of presidents just issuing Executive Orders - do their jobs and change the statutes on the books. Our ongoing lack of civics training makes this seem so easy to a lot of people - just have a judge rule or an administrator issue a convenient ukase. That is not a recipe for proper governance. (And no, while this piece will no doubt scream about Republicans, neither party has done anything to change this in the correct way!)
18
That's interesting that you bring that up, since the CSA specifically designates lawmaking authority to an executive agency (the DEA). If the DEA doesn't like a substance, it has the "authority" under the CSA to schedule it without any additional legislation. The individuals who possess that substance on day 1 will be declared criminals by administrative mandate the moment the substance is actually scheduled by the DEA. How is that "separation of powers?" And where does Congress derive the authority to ban drugs in the first place? The Commerce Clause? As Clarence Thomas noted in his dissent in Gonzales v. Raich, the majority's opinion that the private, non-commercial cultivation, possession, and use of cannabis can be regulated under the commerce clause simply because it can be argued to affect an interstate market which Congress wants to regulate is so broad as to remove essentially all limitations on Congress's regulatory authority. The answer is the founders never would have imagined a centralized federal government, operating within the confines of the Constitution, snooping in people's private gardens in the hopes of busting people for growing the wrong plants.
10
A great many laws in the US have been struck down, in time, by the courts. That is the check granted to the judicial branch – to ensure the laws are just. Challenging a statute for potential violation of one's Constitutional rights is very much "the correct way". It doesn't mean you'll win, but there's nothing underhanded about trying.
5
"The suit also includes archival material quoting John Ehrlichman, an adviser to President Richard Nixon, saying that the early efforts to criminalize pot were a way to disrupt the hippies and the black community "
This explains Jeff Sessions mindset in a nutshell.
78
I truly believe Sessions was the nerdly, unpopular kid who was both dissed and disgusted by his more socially savvy peers. His extreme dislike of weed strikes me as a giant payback for feeling ostracized by the cool kids back in the day.
12
I think they should give Mr. Sessions a drug test to see if it comes out positive for THC... wouldn't it be funny?
3
I can only hope that this lawsuit leaves Sessions' ill-informed efforts to turn back time "up in smoke! ;-)
31
Jeff Sessions' position: keep up the successful 50-yr, 50 trillion dollar war on marijuana....so there will continue to be no pot in places like California.....great idea, keep up the good work guys
26
1st comment? That's funny...most people don't realize it yet but this is a momumental case with the ability to change this country forever...apparently traders of pot penny stocks are among the groups paying closest attention lol
15