Some say it's because pot has a high abuse potential. Marijuana law is based on the Controlled Substances Act, which classifies certain drugs in various schedules based on how dangerous they are. Schedule 1 is for:
Drugs with high abuse potential and no accepted medical use in the United States.
Well, here's what the US Government says:
Although few users of marijuana develop
dependence, some do. But they appear
to be less likely to do so than users
of other drugs (including alcohol and
nicotine), and marijuana dependence
appears to be less severe than
dependence on other drugs." (National
Institute of Medicine (IOM). Marijuana
and Medicine: Assessing the Science
Base. National Academy Press. Washington
DC, 1999
So, here's the logic the DEA uses in criminalizing pot:
*Marijuana is illegal (because it has a high potential for abuse).
*People who use an illegal drug are abusing it by definition (theirs).
*Lots of people use marijuana.
*Therefore, there is a high potential for abuse and it should remain illegal.
Now, what about this part "...no accepted medical use in the United States." ? Um, haven't several states passed laws legalizing the medicinal use of pot? Just trying to figure this shit out - doesn't make much sense to me.
1 comment:
I beleive that for medical purposes yes it should be legal. For recreational purpose, as long as you are not operating heavy machinery. The problem with pot from the DEA perspective is that it is referred to as a "gateway drug" in which people go on to do other more powerful drugs. But the coorelation is similar to the fact the death row inmate have a history of viewing pornography. Well, I do not think everyone who watches porno is going to be on death row and I do not believe that all pot smokers are going to move on to cocaine or other "big drugs."
Pot should be regulated similar to psedumethphrine where people can only by a certian amount in a certain time frame.
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