{"id":7195,"date":"2017-02-03T23:32:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T23:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=5766"},"modified":"2017-02-03T23:32:27","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T23:32:27","slug":"25-lies-about-cannabis-on-the-dea-website-refuted-by-the-dea-itself-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/25-lies-about-cannabis-on-the-dea-website-refuted-by-the-dea-itself-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Lies About Cannabis On The DEA Website \u2013 Refuted By The DEA Itself In 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/25-lies-about-cannabis-on-the-dea-website-refuted-by-the-dea-itself-in-2016\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>With eight states legalizing recreational cannabis and 26 other states legalizing medical cannabis use, federal government is the biggest obstacle to freedom \u2013 despite more and more U.S. lawmakers pushing for medical access and even complete decriminalization.<\/p>\n<p>By far the biggest obstruction to a fact-based approach to cannabis is the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which maintains cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic. This most restrictive category, which includes heroin and methamphetamine, is described as having \u201cno currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By now most everyone knows this classification is patently absurd for cannabis, as studies are piling up showing the medical benefits of cannabis, in addition to real-world evidence in medical use states. If that weren\u2019t enough, the National Academies of Science just published a monumental study with nearly 100 conclusions, including the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>The DEA had a chance to correct its ignorance in 2016 by rescheduling cannabis on the advice of the FDA, but somehow kept a straight face when it announced in August it would keep the plant under Schedule 1. One explanation for this defiance of reality is the DEA\u2019s allegiance to Big Pharma, which has admitted cannabis poses a threat to its profits.<\/p>\n<p>Some aren\u2019t taking the DEA\u2019s disinformation lying down.<\/p>\n<p>Americans for Safe Access (ASA) found 25 falsehoods about cannabis still being peddled by the DEA on its website, and has filed a petition to force their removal. ASA points out that DEA is violating federal law called the Information Quality Act which requires agencies to ensure the \u201cquality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information\u201d when developing guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>One reason we know their information is false is because the DEA contradicted those very falsehoods \u2013 with references to studies \u2013 when it refused to reschedule cannabis in 2016. Even though DEA accepted these studies, it somehow concluded \u2018more research is needed\u2019 to show cannabis has medical value.<\/p>\n<p>According to the petition:<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cDEA continues to disseminate certain statements about the health risks of medical cannabis use that have been incontrovertibly refuted by the DEA itself in its recent \u201cDenial of Petition to Initiate Proceedings to Reschedule Marijuana\u201d, issued August 12, 2016. In fact, the DEA\u2019s recent statements confirm scientific facts about medical cannabis that have long been accepted by a majority of the scientific community.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>ASA groups the false claims into four categories: 1) \u201ccannabis\u2019 alleged capacity to induce psychosis, 2) \u201ccannabis\u2019 alleged capacity to induce lung cancer and cause damage comparable to that caused by tobacco use, 3) the \u201cgateway theory\u201d to use of other drugs, 4) \u201calleged permanency of cannabis-associated cognitive deficits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For each category, ASA lists the specific statements and then provides contradicting statements from the DEA itself, referencing scientific studies that refute the false statements still on their website.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cThe overwhelming majority of the objective scientific studies \u2013 including studies cited by the DEA in the DPR \u2013 disprove the inaccurate DEA statements described in Section II (a)-(d). Because the DEA itself made statements in the DPR that directly contradict information in \u201cThe Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana Abuse\u201d and \u201cDrugs of Abuse,\u201d it is undeniable that the DEA information at issue lacks utility and objectivity.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Given DEA\u2019s demented stance that can only be described as a throwback to Reefer Madness, we are unlikely to see any progress made in this tyrannical agency that thrives on the criminalization of the miraculous cannabis plant. We can only hope that Congress continues to gather more supporters for the cause of freedom and medical access.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/25-lies-about-cannabis-on-the-dea-website-refuted-by-the-dea-itself-in-2016.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"> <\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Katelyn Baker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/thefreethoughtproject.com\/25-lies-cannabis-dea-website\/\" target=\"_blank\">25 Lies About Cannabis On The DEA Website &#8211; Refuted By The DEA Itself In 2016<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Justin Gardner<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"mailto:contact@thefreethoughtproject.com\">contact@thefreethoughtproject.com<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Kate McKee Simmons<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/thefreethoughtproject.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Free Thought Project<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With eight states legalizing recreational cannabis and 26 other states legalizing medical cannabis use, federal government is the biggest obstacle&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/01\/25-lies-cannabis-dea-website-refuted-dea-2016\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1597,9,1,3],"tags":[4165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}