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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US: Federal government decrees that marijuana has no accepted medical use — again Howard Portnoy , Libertarian Examiner The Examiner Wednesday 13 Jul 2011 In a letter to the organizations that filed the petition, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said the request was being rejected because marijuana has a high potential for abuse, … has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy. The decision comes nine years after supporters of medical marijuana first petitioned the government to reclassify cannabis to reflect a growing body of research confirming its efficaciousness in treating a host of diseases, ranging from Alzheimer’s to brain cancer to multiple sclerosis. In the years since, pot has been approved by California and 15 other states and the District of Columbia, but efforts to legalize the drug nationally have been ongoing. While advocates for the medical use of the drug are critical of the Obama administration’s stated position, the action by the federal government at least opens the door to the federal appeals process. Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, a prominent advocacy group, is quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying, “We have foiled the government's strategy of delay, and we can now go head-to-head on the merits.” Elford maintains he was not surprised by the government’s ruling, adding, “It is clearly motivated by a political decision that is anti-marijuana." This latest rejection is the third. The first petition to reclassify cannabis was filed in 1972. That decision required 17 years of deliberation before the request was ultimately denied. The second was filed in 1995 and denied six years later. Both decisions were appealed, but both times the courts came down on the side of the federal government. Supporters of medical marijuana are hoping the old adage that the third time's a charm holds true. Meanwhile, research into the medical benefits continues apace, though one researcher, Igor Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California at San Diego, warns that the government's position has a chilling effect on the science. He is quoted as saying: We're trapped in kind of a vicious cycle here. It's always a danger if the government acts on certain kinds of persuasions or beliefs rather than evidence. http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-national/federal-government-decrees-that-marijuana-has-no-accepted-medical-use-again
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