by Howie Katz
If the DEA is turned loose to enforce the federal marijuana laws, it would nullify the recreational use of pot in those states that have legalized it.
In 2013, President Obama’s Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to stop enforcing federal drug laws that contradict state marijuana policies. That order also put a leash on the DEA.
Now a number of states, most notably Washington, Colorado and California, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. That blue haze you see in Denver is not car pollution, it’s pot pollution.
The DEA has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the same as heroin and cocaine. Under federal law it is illegal to possess, use, buy, sell, or cultivate marijuana. The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, Clause 2) holds that in case of conflict between federal and state law, the federal law must be applied.
Now that Trump is President and Jeff Sessions is Attorney General, it’s time to unleash the DEA and put a stop to the marijuana legalization nonsense. If the DEA is turned loose to enforce the federal laws against marijuana in those states that have legalized its recreational use, it would in effect nullify the state legalization laws.
More and more recent studies by reputable researchers have shown that marijuana is indeed a dangerous drug, contrary to the claim by pot proponents that it is innocuous. Marijuana should not be legalized.
The pro-pot crowd claims that by legalizing marijuana, the Mexican drug cartels would be driven out of business. That is patently untrue! In Colorado for instance, the cartels are doing a thriving business. Many stoners prefer to buy their pot on the black market because it’s cheaper on the street corner than in the ‘legal’ pot shops where they would have to pay the added on state and local taxes.
Will Trump and Sessions unleash the DEA to go after the federal law violators in Washington, Colorado, California and the other states that have legalized pot? I’m not holding my breath.
Howie Katz is a former law enforcement officer and retired criminal justice professor. In 1969 he founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. He currently resides in Houston, Texas.
Don Hooper says
You wouldn’t rather have DEA agents focused on organized crime surrounding drug dealing? Is your argument to have them spend time arresting recreational users?
Howie Katz says
I don’t think I implied that the DEA should go after stoners. They should go after the growers, the distributors and and the pot shop operators. And of course they should still go after the black market street dealers and their cartel connections.
John Baucum says
Amazing that someone can write a piece making such wild claims without providing any supporting evidence or links to actual research. Trump has said many times that marijuana policy should be left to the states. He’s also a populist, so it’s not likely he’s going to start a crackdown on states that have legal medical and adult-use cannabis laws, when a strong majority of Americans support legalization.
james says
Trump has already gone on record saying pot policies should be state by state, and that he supports medicinal marijuana.
And I’d like to see these scientific studies done by reputable researchers regarding the ‘dangerous drug’.
Fortunately, your antiquated reasonings behind your anti legalization rhetoric is just that – antique. The war on drugs has long been expensive and counter-productive and it’s time we start allocating law enforcement hours on real things that matter instead of trying to regulate what adults put into their own bodies.
Howie Katz says
Your reasoning sounds like you’ve been smoking too much funny tobacco. “Instead of trying to regulate what adults put into their own bodies.” That means it’s OK with you for adults to use heroin, cocaine, meth, PCP, etc. Sorry James, butt I’ll stick to my ‘antique’ ways.
james says
Absolutely, within moderation. Substance abuse and addiction is a different issue and should be treated as a public health crisis.
This country has a million more important issues that is cultivating a divide that could potentially take generations to re-coup. Why are you so stuck on a non-issue that most Americans approve of?
Super duper smart scientists have already published studies that show states with legal marijuana have lower use of other drugs, especially opioid abuse.
http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2014/state-medical-marijuana-laws-linked-to-lower-prescription-overdose-deaths.html
Maybe using science and facts to further our individual arguments is in order. Lets remember, the war on marijuana started decades ago based off propaganda and racist and xenophobic undertones. You know that, right Howie?
Howie Katz says
James, the reasons given for making marijuana illegal may have been somewhat over the top, but that doesn’t make pot any less dangerous. Getting away from the antique, here are some studies showing that contrary to being a harmless substance, marijuana is a very dangerous and addictive drug:
A study by Dr. Penny Whiting and her team at England’s University of Bristol found that cannabis does not ease pain, nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, MS muscle contractions, sleep disorders or Tourette’s symptoms.
In a June 2011 letter to organizations petitioning for a reclassification of marijuana, Michele Leonhart declared that marijuana “has a high potential for abuse,” “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and “lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.” The letter and 37 pages of supporting documents were published in the Federal Register.
A 20 year study by a team led by Professor Wayne Hall, a drug adviser to the World Health Organization, found cannabis is highly addictive, causes mental health problems, doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and opens the door to hard drugs.
There have been a number of studies showing that cannabis had caused heart problems in the young and middle-aged. Doctors in Wales noted that there is evidence pot can trigger heart attacks, with the risk increasing 4.8 times in the first hour after smoking the weed. They also noted that studies have shown marijuana affects blood flow, increases the heart rate, causes high blood pressure when sitting down and low pressure when standing up.
The American Glaucoma Society has written: “There is no scientific basis for marijuana’s use in treatment,” and there is evidence that it could actually do damage.
According to the journal of the American Epilepsy Society, “Marijuana itself has major shortcomings as an epilepsy treatment … evidence for efficacy in treating seizures does not meet the necessary standard to recommend it to patients.” Worse, researchers state that “marijuana use or withdrawal could potentially trigger seizures in susceptible patients.”
The Journal of Neuroscience reports that researchers from Harvard Medical School and Chicago’s Northwestern University have discovered that smoking pot even casually once or twice a week can damage the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala, both core structures of the brain which are linked to emotion, motivation and addiction.
Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says, “Smoking marijuana has a very negative effect on your ability to operate a motor vehicle. It’s quite dangerous to you, your passengers and others on the road.” (Apparently he hasn’t heard his boss declare that pot is less harmful than alcohol.)
The Drug Abuse Recognition Journal reports There is mounting evidence that cannabis may increase the risk for schizophrenia in the developing mind.
The Archives of General Psychiatry reports that people who smoke pot are more likely to develop a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia earlier than those who do not use marijuana.
The British Medical Journal reports that a review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking marijuana. Smoking cannabis within three hours of getting behind the wheel could almost double the risk of a serious crash.
A study headed by Marie-Odile Krebs, professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) laboratory in France, found that among 190 patients with schizophrenia, 121 of whom had used marijuana, cannabis appeared to affect the age of psychosis onset in a subgroup of 44 patients. The affected patients either had their first symptoms within a month of smoking pot for the first time, or experienced a severe worsening of psychotic symptoms each time they smoked.
James, in November 2015, even Obama’s DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg rejected the notion that smoking marijuana is “medicine,” calling the premise a “joke.” “What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal — because it’s not,” Rosenberg said in a briefing to reporters. “We can have an intellectually honest debate about whether we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don’t call it medicine — that is a joke.”
And in August 2016, The DEA announced that marijuana would remain in Schedule 1 alongside heroin, thus keeping it illegal for any purpose, including its medical use. A Schedule 1 drug is one that has “no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” As for medical marijuana, the DEA said a Health and Human Services evaluation shows marijuana has no ‘‘currently accepted medical use’’ because “the drug’s chemistry is not known and reproducible; there are no adequate safety studies; there are no adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy; the drug is not accepted by qualified experts; and the scientific evidence is not widely available.. There is no evidence that there is a consensus among qualified experts that marijuana is safe and effective for use in treating a specific, recognized disorder.”
As for those super duper smart scientists that, have already published studies that show states with legal marijuana have lower use of other drugs, especially opioid abuse, I say their findings are rather premature. Legalization is still in its infancy. Wait a few years and you will see an alarming increase in the use of heroin and meth within the legalization states because it is indisputable that marijuana is a gateway drug.
James, have a good weekend.
james says
I agree cannabis hasn’t been proven to cure a specific disorder, but it has proven to alleviate symptoms of many. And let’s not forget CBD is non-psychoactive.
Its obvious you’re against all forms of marijuana, and will believe junk science to prove your point. If you’re going to make a claim against something, you should really know what you’re talking about. and I don’t just mean about pot, I mean about anything. Too many people form bad opinions with no research. People talk about the rise of fake news, but the problem is most people will attach their name to any study as long as it proves their point, and when that study is proven wrong they say oh whatever. You hate pot, but your hatred is turning into ignorance.
Sleep well
TEX says
Pot is not now or never has been addictive, and not one case of overdosing on THC has ever been documented. The DEA doesn’t need to be unleashed they need to stay the hell out of a States right issue. I don’t advocate the use of marihuana but many terminal cancer /cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers,etc.get unbelievable relief from this plant.
Bill Daniels says
‘ Many stoners prefer to buy their pot on the black market because it’s cheaper on the street corner than in the ‘legal’ pot shops where they would have to pay the added on state and local taxes.
‘
Um, hello? The problem here is the heavy sin taxes that make bootlegged Mexican pot still cheaper, even though it had to be smuggled in to the US. Treat pot like every other product for sale, with just a sales tax that is the same as the tax on shoes, restaurant meals, etc., and you reduce the price and remove the profit motive for the Mexicans to smuggle it in. Who is going to risk jail for a modest return on investment?
If Mexican cartels are selling pot in Colorado and other states that have legalized, that’s because those states have failed at understanding economics. Eliminate the sin taxes, and allow people to “grow their own” without fear of losing their houses to asset forfeiture, and you have brought the price of pot down near the level of the price of organic tomatoes, and I don’t see the cartels fighting over smuggling routes for tomatoes.
JUST SAYIN says
“The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.”
Abraham Lincoln
bob walsh says
Based on recent experiences in CA, where “medical marijuana” cards are available for the asking, problems with drug-impaired driving has increased significantly and no reliable scientific tests yet exist that can determined just how stoned a driver really is. At least the alcohol tests are solidly quantitative. Now that CA has passed a recreational use law it is likely the number of stoners is going to increase. It certainly will not decrease. I have no problem with LEGIT medical marijuana use but now, at least in CA, you can get a weed script merely by claiming you need it to relieve anxiety over being unable to smoke weed. This legalization is a bad idea and will continue to be a bad idea until some solid, scientific gauges exist to quantify how stoned is too stoned to drive, etc.
Howie Katz says
Normally I wouldn’t dignify james February 25 at 3:42 am with a response, but when he refers to the studies I mentioned as junk science, I ask BJP followers, who among the two of us is the ignorant one?
Fat Albert says
There are also several studies that show a decline of cognitive function in long-term cannabis users. I suspect that (at least partially) explains James’ response.
Lydia says
I’m in no way supportive of pot. But I am against the federal government regulating it. That IS a State Right.
The article above mentioned in cases of State and federal law conflict the federal law is supreme because of the “Supremacy Clause”. That is ONLY true when the laws are in pursuance of the Constitution.
Art. VI, Clause 2 reads: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States WHICH SHALL BE MADE IN PURSUANCE THEREOF; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Show me where in the Constitution is the authority over marihuana plants or any plants at all.
TEX says
That’s what I didn’t understand about the author of this ridiculous article. Unleash the DEA ? Really ? Round them up and abolish this agency. Then get rid of the ATF ! Like the NRA once said,”…..they are nothing more than a bunch of jack-booted government thugs” ! When it comes to the federal gov’t less is always best. Let the states control and regulate this and many,many other issues.