Cannabis Facts

sanjay gupta montel williams schedule cannabis Source http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/PwIfJ4hzfXk/maxresdefault.jpg

Montel Williams joined Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Piers Morgan Live to continue the discussion of the federal government’s hypocrisy regarding medical marijuana. Dr. Gupta has been on a public crusade to inform the public about what he has learned about medical marijuana and its effectiveness in treating a wide variety of conditions.

In this segment of the information crusade, Dr. Gupta and Montel focus on the hypocrisy of cannabis as a Schedule I drug. Substances must meet 3 criteria (all 3) to be considered a Schedule I drug: They must have a high potential for abuse, no medicinal value and be so dangerous that they can’t be considered safe even under a doctor’s supervision. Not only does marijuana not meet all 3 of these criteria, the only one that can even be debated at this point is the potential for abuse.

Cannabis is safer and less addictive than caffeine, but the fact that consuming it can be enjoyable automatically translates for some to mean that it can and will be abused. If that is a reason to outlaw something, then the feds should also prohibit things like sports, video games and of course alcohol. I personally spent a good portion of my childhood addicted to video games, to the point where it had a detrimental effect on my school and social life. In a less far-fetched (I certainly don’t advocate outlawing sports, games or alcohol) comparison, why isn’t nicotine a Schedule I substance? Cigarettes certainly have a high potential for abuse (nicotine is the most addictive substance there is), no medical value and are unsafe even under a doctor’s supervision.

Getting back to the topic at hand, there are 2 pieces of information which should have ended cannabis’ Schedule I status long ago. One is the US patent on marijuana as a neuroprotectant and anti-oxidant, and the other is almost as old as the Schedule I status itself: As Montel points out, the feds have been growing, rolling and distributing joints for medicinal purposes for 37 years.

I’d like to thank Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Montel Williams for their vigilance in sharing the truth, and Piers Morgan and CNN for bringing the information into the mainstream media. Marijuana is a very effective medicine. I’d also like to remind everyone that there is no logical reason to stop at legalizing cannabis for medical use: Marijuana causes far less harm to the user and their community than alcohol, and legalization could actually lessen the overall human and financial costs of recreational drug use in society, without even taking into account the wasted lives and funds from the current practice of jailing people for using it.