The Red Herring - Wyoming beware: the illusion of marijuana as ‘medicine’

by Wyoming Liberty Group

Picture this: Dealers pedaling illegal drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted use in treatment in the United States. This, by the way, is happening in Wyoming.

How do they push their products?

Well, the leading pro-marijuana forces have crafted a strategy that seeks to make marijuana more socially acceptable. That's what was done by NORML—the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws—which, through its local chapter, has sought to crack into Wyoming, where marijuana remains illegal. Expect another pro-pot push during the upcoming Wyoming legislative session in February.

Consider this, though: In 1979, the head of NORML revealed their troubling strategy when he was quoted in an interview with the Emory Wheel, the student newspaper at Emory University in Atlanta:

"We are trying to get marijuana reclassified medically," he was quoted as saying. "If we do that (we'll do it in at least 20 states this year for chemotherapy patients), we'll be using the issue as a red herring to give marijuana a good name."

Did you catch that phrase?

A red herring.

Which, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is defined as this: "something that distracts attention from the real issue."

It was, by any measure, a stunning admission.

Pro-pot forces wanted to give marijuana a "good name" because it didn't have one. They wanted to cloak marijuana in respectability because it didn't have it; marijuana, after all, is a mind-altering drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved for the treatment of any disease.

NORML has since disavowed those shocking comments in the Atlanta newspaper, but the strategy has largely worked anyway.

In 1996, voters in California approved a ballot initiative—Proposition 215—that made the Golden State the first in the United States to legalize marijuana for so-called medical purposes.

But a word of caution: Just because voters say marijuana is medicine doesn't make it so.

In fact, according to a fact sheet from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency of the U.S. Justice Department: "Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision."

What NORML plotted has largely happened as nearly 40 states have, by ballot or by legislation action, permitted so-called "medical" marijuana. It was, by the way, just one more step that has further opened the door to make marijuana legal across the country. Adult-use marijuana—dubbed "recreational" by clever marketers—has been legalized in 24 states since.

What's the result? Every ten seconds, for instance, someone in California buys pot. Meanwhile, marijuana use has doubled over the past 2o years across the country, even though marijuana—also known as cannabis—remains federally illegal and despite the known hazards to people's health.

Let's be clear about what the FDA has approved—only two cannabis-derived and three cannabis-related products. But none that contains THC—tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive constituent of marijuana that makes users high and can lead to all manner of problems, such as impaired cognitive functioning, heightened risks of accidents and deteriorating mental health.

On its website, the FDA states this about marijuana: "To date, the FDA has not approved a marketing application for cannabis for the treatment of any disease or condition. The agency has, however, approved one cannabis-derived drug product: Epidiolex (cannabidiol), and three synthetic cannabis-related drug products: Marinol (dronabinol), Syndros (dronabinol), and Cesamet (nabilone). These approved drug products are only available with a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider. Importantly, the FDA has not approved any other cannabis, cannabis-derived, or cannabidiol (CBD) products currently available on the market."

Epidiolex treats two epilepsy conditions, Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gestaut syndrome. Marinol is a capsule prescribed to control nausea and vomiting as a result of cancer treatment. It is also employed to increase appetite for AIDS patients. Syndros is a solution for treating anorexia. And Cesamet treats nausea and vomiting caused by cancer medications.

That's it.

Don't believe the hype, especially as pro-pot forces push into the upcoming Wyoming legislative session. Contrary to their propaganda, marijuana isn't a cure for stress, back pain, or any number of other ailments. It's a mind-altering drug that can hurt you.

If pro-pot forces can't convince you that marijuana is a medical cure-all, they are apt to attempt other marketing puffery. They argue, for instance, that marijuana should be decriminalized or legalized because marijuana possession charges have led to a disproportionate number of people behind bars. But that's smoke and mirrors to a large extent.

Stay tuned for more information from your friends at Wyoming Liberty Group.