Watching the Infrastructure of Prohibition Crumble
Recreational Cannabis in California - One-Year Later from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
With California ready to unleash the recreational cannabis market within the State, lawmakers are now applying pressure on the Federal government to reclassify cannabis all together.
"The Legislature urges the Congress of the United States to pass a law to reschedule marijuana or cannabis and its derivatives from a Schedule I drug to an alternative schedule, therefore allowing the legal research and development of marijuana or cannabis for medical use," reads a joint resolution approved by the California Assembly on Thursday with a vote of 60 to 10. - Forbes
As we know, the Controlled Substance Act is the ‘list’ of drugs deemed ‘evil’ by the Federal government and is divided into categories. Cannabis, is currently in the most restrictive category, “Schedule I” which means that according to Uncle Sam, it has no medical value and a high potential for abuse. Meanwhile, cocaine and methamphetamines are Schedule II.
With the current classification of cannabis as Schedule I, there are plenty of obstacles in relation to research, accessibility and so forth. Every time cannabis researchers requested permission from the DEA to study the plant…they were stonewalled. This dynamic has been going on for decades now.
Furthermore, since Cannabis is a Schedule I drug…banking is nearly impossible. Cannabis businesses can’t use the same tax exemptions, they are forced to horde cash making them a target for the criminal element.
The California Assembly issued letters to Trump, Pence, Ryan and McConnell. Whether this will actually do anything is anyone’s guess. Odds are that the political dinosaurs will simply ignore the petition and continue with their unreasonable war on cannabis.
As More States Legalize…
It is important to note that California’s ‘proactive approach’ shouldn’t be dismissed as just “whatever”. It’s setting a precedent for other states that are thinking about legalizing marijuana to follow suit. If enough States start pressuring the Federal government with reclassifying cannabis, we might see it happen sooner than later.
HOWEVER, as I mentioned in a previous article…a Schedule II ruling wouldn’t be ideal for the cannabis industry. The reason being, that a Schedule II drug has a lot of expensive regulations and requirements meaning that most independent marijuana businesses would not be able to comply and through not complying could be “shut down”.
The best thing that would happen to cannabis is if they regulate it like tobacco and alcohol which is not listed under the CSA. I know right! Alcohol (the world’s most dangerous drug) and tobacco (the world’s most deadliest drug) are not listed in the Controlled Substance Act. Rather, they are regulated by the ATF. Perhaps, the ATF soon get another letter added to it “C”. However, despite the fact that this would be the ‘ideal situation’, it probably won’t happen. But we can dream right.
To be 100% honest, they should regulate cannabis like they regulate any vegetable…no regulations at all. Yet once more, this is just a pipe dream in the current political environment.
While the vast majority of Americans are in favor of medical cannabis and slightly lower margins for recreational use…it’s a wonder that cannabis hasn’t been de-scheduled yet. Every passing day that cannabis remains a schedule I substance…people are realizing the lunacy behind drug prohibition and every single day more people are jumping on the “Marijuana Train to Toke Town”.
We can only hope that when enough states begin to apply pressure to the Federal government that they will have to bend to the will of the people. Yet in the United States corporations have more rights than individuals and the industries that are backing prohibition have entrenched themselves within the political system. Thus, the fight is far from over.
It’s a waiting game
Right now, we can only wait and see what will happen with the California Assembly’s attempt to reach out to the Federal government. Maybe it will make some impact, seeing that California is an important state when it comes to national elections.
Nonetheless, there is tangible evidence to suggest that the illusion of cannabis prohibition is quickly coming to an end. With talks of potentially legalizing magic mushrooms in California, we might see the end of prohibition come to completion.
I personally don’t think that people will suddenly ‘remove the stigma of drug use’, however over time we will see it happen. There is no logical reason to ‘prohibit’ any drug since it’s an exercise of personal choice that doesn’t affect other people. Drug prohibition would be akin to the government prohibiting masturbation.
Nonetheless, I have long touted that when we win the war against marijuana…people will quickly realize that drug prohibition never worked, there are other schedule I substances with high medical potential that have been suppressed by the government for decades. All we can do now, is continue to fight the good fight and one day see the last stone removed from the wall known as prohibition.
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