Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee are requesting that the FDA reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II controlled substance, from the Schedule I position it now holds.
The two governors argue that although 16 states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons, the Federal position remains that marijuana, like LSD, PCP, MDMA, and heroin, has “a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use,” as Seattlepi.com points out. The medical establishment disagrees.
If the FDA needs encouragement, Gregoire notes that the American Medical Association, reversing itself, now supports research into marijuana’s medicinal properties, along with the American College of Physicians. “Both the Washington State Medical Association and the Washington State Pharmacy support reclassification,” adds the governors’ press release. When the FDA last looked into the matter, as recently as 2006, the AMA was on record against medical marijuana.
Gregoire is quoted as saying:
People weak and sick with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases and conditions suddenly feel like — or in fact become – law breakers. In the year 2011, why can’t medical cannabis be prescribed by a physician and filled at the drug store just like any other medication? The answer is surprisingly simple. It can. But only if the federal government stops classifying marijuana as unsuitable for medical treatment.
It’s not surprising that, as a former Attorney General, Gregoire would be most interested in harmonizing the legal jurisdictions when it comes to medical marijuana. Last spring, she sought feedback from the federal government on an initiative that would have legalized (again) medical marijuana, but also, to her mind, have put state workers at risk of federal prosecution. The recent DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Washington, though, were said to be targeting those who were winking at the medical usage requirement.
It occurs to me that as much as people think of medical marijuana legalization as a stalking horse for full legalization of marijuana, the converse might also true: “Poll after poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans now see medical marijuana as legitimate,” says Gregoire, without mentioning that poll after poll in her own state show significant willingness to tolerate people getting high on their own recognizance.
At some point, states like Washington may want to choose to bend on the hard-to-argue prospect of medical marijuana, rather than take the risk of breaking on “legalizing it” via initiative. (The petition specifically mentions that the cannabis in question is not the kind you smoke: “It is important to note that medical cannabis can be vaporized, not smoked. Additionally cannabis can be ingested orally, or applied topically in a liniment.”)