Marijuana and Cannabis News
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm
As pointed out on The Young Turks, this crackdown is nothing more than a process of eliminating the competition for Big Pharma. GW Pharmaceutical and other manufacturers want to take over the marijuana market with products like Sativex, a liquid extract of cannabis that contains both THC and CBD.
"Every single decision comes back to some lobbyist who paid for it," Young Turks host Cenk Uygur said.
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| The Young Turks |
| Cenk Uygur: "Every single decision comes back to some lobbyist who paid for it" |
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56 comments
Cannabis Is The People's Medicine. If they are licensing 55 companies to get natural marinol then Cannabis must be medicine for sure.
“Forget state’s rights. Forget what the voters want.”“You’ve had a hard day, go home, pick up some beer and pack of cigarettes, have a pill or 2 of the expensive poisons we prescribe you and just hang in there. Things will get better”.In other words, stay numb, scared, and dumb and by all means “don’t think”.They say MMJ has no medical value but they reschedule naturally derived THC and cannabinoids and allow pharmaceutical companies to patent and sell them to us at 10,000% profit … and most of America doesn’t even flinch. Why do you think Big Pharma has any interest in naturally derived THC? Maybe because of its *medicinal* value and most surely for its profits. Do you know how much brand Marinol (“synthetic THC”) costs? Over $1,800 per 1000mg (1g). What do you think will happen when they allow these pharmaceutical companies to patent *naturally derived* components of marijuana? Think about it. The government is taking your natural medicine and handing it over to Big Pharma and you are sitting by and watching it happen.This situation is exposing the American government for exactly what it is. An illusion of democracy. An illusion of freedom. An illusion of choice. An illusion of prosperity and success. This is how the government operates on all fronts, this situation is simply a rare time when you can see it brought to light. They want this issue snuffed out and back under the rug where they want it so they can go back to business as usual – in the shadows.This is not just about medical marijuana, this is about money and control. The government, big media, and big pharma raping and looting our citizens for generations. Yet people are quick to put their faith in the next politician who vows to change the things that no other before him has with no real intention of doing anything. “I’m (insert party here), so that’s how I vote.” They’ve got you right where they want you. We live under one regime that operates through 2 parties in order maintain the illusion of choice and freedom. The current administration has proven that.The media bears equal responsibility for they are the mouthpiece for the amplification and perpetuation of the government’s misinformation and propaganda agenda which has spanned decades and caused so many people to blindfully accept having no control over the country they live in. The media is responsible for creating the zombie-like members of this society who steadfastly prohibit any real change by buying into the notion that THIS government has the interests of its people at “heart”.Through scare tactics the media gets the general public to believe something like a “200 plant” bust (they love to use numbers) MUST be a major, dangerous crime. Where is the heroin? Where is the cocaine? Where is the involvement in violent crime? Nowehere. Inflammatory media stories leave out the important details and prey on the trusting mind while focusing simply on quantities of marijuana involved in a “bust”. But in reality how do safe, benign plants alone equate to danger and crime? They don’t, but the government and media would have you believe otherwise.When will we take out country back? When will America wake up and see that our government is a gang of thugs with no interest in any person’s individuality and well being?Who will be held accountable for the countless destroyed families and upstanding non-violent citizens imprisoned in the name of the government’s agenda? Who will pay for the crimes committed against Americans?
My thoughts exactly. Take away religious extremism from the one party, and they pretty much sound the same about many issues. They keep the 2 parties upset with each other, bicker when Congress meets, and have no worries about where their next check or health care is coming from. We, the People, are supposed to be the ones in control, yet we get to vote on many big issues. Someone 'appointed' to 'represent' our opinion votes in place of us. With the corruption all around, we should vote for everything, not our reps. What an insane idea!
I'm tired of hearing about the DEA (I'm in MI in 2012 where raids are still happening) 'seizing' stacks of cash, pocketing 60% and reporting 40%. Do we really need them? Shouldn't we give the jobs to our own states and dismiss the feds? They should at least stick to actual drugs like meth, not plants. But they're not likely to get shot by a relaxed cannabis user or budtender as opposed to a tweaker with a gun. They had their chance and lost the 'war' on drugs. Retire them, put all the money back into state law enforcement and leave plants alone.
Since getting off oil doesn't seem to be happening as quickly as we need it to, it would be nice to see Detroit reopen all its factories making hemp products/fuels (do you think trees really grow back as quickly as we chop them down?). I worry about the mentality of Americans when decent tv shows are yanked after one season and replaced with yet another reality show full of arguing numbskulls. It would be nice seeing Detroit being called the Paris of the Midwest again, flourishing.
I say we Johnny Appleseed this entire country and fight for a real democracy! Give the female plants what they want, male pollen. Collect tons of seeds, mix them with bird seed or popcorn or whatever and throw them everywhere: parks, mountains, woods, anywhere with dirt! The People have to realize there are more of us than them and we can really throw a wrench in the machine by not going along.
What happened to people like the women in the suffrage movement, the Rosa Parks, and all the people who eventually said NO MORE?! Does everyone fear losing their evenings in a warm home with hdtvs, games, and other comforts? Fear of jail? It's like once certain struggles were won, people relaxed and convinced they're OK in the greatest country in the world. We're only the greatest in comparison to somewhere worse. It still shouldn't be good enough. I find it odd that this country was formed by people running from oppression. They killed and enslaved natives and foreigners to do it, and the types of oppression from then on continue to morph. Sure, we feel free when our views are in alignment with the government. But everyone needs to nudge the person next to them and say wake up, the gov needs to align to us!
So plant a seed, visit pro websites, get petitions signed, educate, learn about living off the grid (money makers don't want us to be self sufficient), limit the tv watching, get healthy and strong and fight!
(Didn't mean this to be so long, but I got excited. I had a MM card and used it for four months. Because we're a disabled household, and there's threat of people with state aid being tested, I've been dealing with my pain without cannabis. And pharmaceuticals are out of the question. Heart palpitations and chest pains were enough to tell me I can't deal with unnatural meds. I focus on activism and channel my frustration over government interference into my work. I take classes whenever I am healthy...but had a spinal surgery. My son has had surgeries in the double digits. My goal is to use my education, become self employed, self sufficient so I can soon kick the government off of us).
Some leaders in this movement will actually tell you they aren't; be very careful in whom you believe.http://avimovies.blogspot.comhttp://www.mobilespecs.in
Occupy Wall Street would do 9000x more positive change by shooting lobbyists than camping in parks... Not that I am advocating violence, I'm just stating a hypothetical... A deeply satisfying hypothetical...
I love Cenk! I wish he still had his MSNBC show. He is the only one that tells it like it is IMHO.
GW Pharmaceuticals has a cannabis extract-based product, therefore Big Pharma is behind the DEA crackdown on dispensaries? I'm not sure I see the direct connection here.
As noted before, GW is owned by the pharmaceutical giant, Bayer. Thus, a huge struggle exists over this huge, growing market.
Why do YOU think the DEA is cracking down?
Campaign Obama promised not to interfere with state dispensaries. President Obmama has done the opposite.
do some real reporting and stop bitching about fox news and repubs.Look into how many bundlers are in big pharma . its the chicago way pay for play .Most lost green jobs . but if you voted for this tool you deserve what you get .
Now it makes sense, I work in a Pharmacy and have for years. There has been a shortage of medication lately, almost a year now--could it be they are depleting their stock piles to unveil the new miracle drug that cures everything, all created from cannabis! The picture is getting clearer now.This country needs a R3volution! I have half a mind to quit my job and park my ass on wall street for a few months! Occupy a space for me...
i completely support legalization, but in michigan (can't speak of california) the medical marijuana program has been perverted by legal dope dealers who sell moldy, wet bud of questionable origin at ridiculous prices to dispensaries. my unshakable belief is that medical (i prefer the term therapeutic, because cannabis is a therapeutic (provides relief, short of a cure) cannabis should be grown by patients, when possible, or contract gardeners paid for maintaining a garden, as opposed to truck farmers, paid by the weight. otherwise it's just a piss poor imitation of big pharma, and no different in kind than regular dope dealers. additionally, it gives opponents of mmj something to hone in on.
I agree totally as well big Pharma, poison over progress.Get ts out of the hands of the big firms and companies.As a Calgary Marketing company, I am always looking for interesting and relevant articles of what's happening in society for my social media posts. I hope it's okay if I repost this information in other places with link backs your article.
HEALTH CARE-LESS How the FDA protects revenue for BIG PHARMA and death for the government agenda. This is a true story of an epic betrayal by the government who control scientific policy and act as police authority on behalf of the pharmaceutical cartel.
These are acts of aggression, eugenics, means of population control, people of all nations who are denied access to life-saving therapies in the name of greed and state controlled science.
In their attack against me our Institutional Review Board, it was not a matter whether 714X worked, the FDA never questioned, accuse, nor were they even interested, nor was there a question about its being absolutely free of side effects; quite the opposite.
As with many others blocked by the FDA over the last 60 years, 714X is a threat to a $500,000,000,000 + per year cancer industry in the USA alone, the mega pharmaceutical, hospital, insurance empire leaves the families devastated by death, insurance and savings accounts depleted and enormous profits stashed away in Switzerland.
big pharma or big brother? this is sick; if you go after medical marijuana, what happens to the people who are honestly sick that truly do need this to help ease their problem? this is just as bad as trying to say that the second ammendment is bad for us! a lot of cancer patients will be in even more pain then they already are if they take it away only to replace it with their bs of "we can do better than Mother Nature" give me a break. If the idiots in charge could honestly do that then breastfeeding your child would no longer be considered the best thing you could do for your child, and last I checked, it still is .
Definition of a hemp hedge...who is the biggest funder to try to get mj. 'legalized'? who is the biggest shareholder of GW Pharmaceuticals?
Would they be the same Peter Lewis?
Ouch!
I have been talking about this for sometime now. Watch, read, be ready to act. This is deliberate and well orchestrated. Everything will hinge on state and Federal drug scheduling. Currently, cannabis is listed as a Schedule I drug in every state but Oregon, where it is a Schedule 2. Colorado relies on Federal Scheduling (Schedule 1). That's right, even states with a medical cannabis program list cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug (no medical value)Expect that the Federal Government will re-Schedule cannabis nationally to a Schedule 2 before the elections in November 2012. DO NOT BE DECEIVED. THIS IS NOT A VICTORY. IT'S A SNARE to formally hand cannabis into the hands of the pharmaceutical companies and formally shut out access to the natural plant.
Cannabis users and patients will ONLY be free from arrest if cannabis is removed ENTIRELY from EVERY state Drug Schedule. Plan your legislative attempts and protests accordingly.
Mark Pedersen / Sensible Missouri / Medical Cannabis Journalhttp://www.medicalcannabisjour...
LOL!
The entire war on drugs is driven by money. That's why it will be a perpetual war.
The wars the US is involved in in the Middle East are also driven by the need to make profit by those who manufacture destructive weapons. That's why those wars will be dragged out as long as possible.
The current war on a weed is also driven by money. Who has the most to lose if the war on a weed goes away? Big pharma.
my best friend's mom makes $77 an hour on the computer. She has been out of job for 9 months but last month her check was $7487 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read about it here LazyCash2.com
my best friend's mom makes $77 an hour on the computer. She has been out of job for 9 months but last month her check was $7487 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read about it here LazyCash2.com
If you are surrounded by any unexpected economic crisis, unsecured loans will probably be your real saviour in such circumstances. ==== h t t p : / / w w w . f u n d f a c t o r . c o m / u n s e c u r e d - l o a n s . h t m l ====
Big pharma knows it cannot compete with cannabis oil. Especially were we ever to get something as high quality as super-critically extracted cannabis oil.
G&W is a subsidiary of Bayer,,one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world,,if not the largest.I still do not know how they plan on having the FDA approve sativex as a medicine and still claim marijuana has no medical applications,,but I am sure they will try.
Here's how they'll do it (my prediction):
Change marijuana to Schedule II, admit it has some medical uses, and sell it as prescription Sativex, thus channeling the profits through Big Pharma. Meanwhile, continue to shut down the cottage industry for cannabis flowers, since they're the competition.That makes me sad, but if you project current trends into the future, it's a real possibility.
I agree Steve. The Pharmas could even ultimately use slices of NAFTA to file suit against successful cannabis flower grower/distributers for unfairly impacting thier profits. Much the same way UPS filed suit and won against the Canadian Postal Service. NAFTA could even be used by the petro-chem companies against hemp producer/processors.
Obviously big pharma is against marijuana and they do influence government laws and policies but so do the citizens of america. According to NORL, 14 million americans use marijuana regularly. Less than 55 thousand people have signed the legalize marijuana petition which means only .39 percent of regular marijuana users in the usa have signed this petition. WTF? Marijuana users that don't sign petitions, don't email political representatives, don't vote, and worse of all, vote against laws in favor of marijuana use are the real problem. The legalize marijuana petition should have millions of votes instead of thousands. Speak up marijuana users!
A lot of people are scared to sign anything. In Michigan just within the last two weeks they raided a Compassion Club. One of the main things they did was to make sure to take pictures of every page of the recall petition to recall the AG for trying to make MM harder to get. Now what reasons did they have to take those pictures unless it was to harrass the people that signed it.
Petitioning the government is fundamental to america! If you are state legal grower, consumer, or distributor and fear signing then I call coward. If you are a mere consumer breaking minor laws and fear signing I call coward. If you are a illegal grower or distributor and could face serious jailtime if caught, then I understand. Good people you are silencing yourselves out of fear of YOUR government. It is time to speak up if you ever want this stupid marijuana prohibition to end!
Exactly good patriot smoke in the open and OCCUPY on the lawn of YOUR local Federal attorney general's office...protest in the open let them see the law is a smoke screen- pun intended
We heard of this happening in Washington as well. We made sure to NOT store our petition pages at dispensaries.
To Swazi-X This is spot on ! Excellent ! we will be heard! This will be the topic of my next post , May I have your permission to use it in the next -Worth Repeating
Checking in from San Mateo, California. As you know this week the Feds said they are going after Dispensaries in San Jose City. We can't let this happen. Thousands of people will be without medication and will suffer. I sincerely believe that if the Feds push us hard, we gotta push them back. Right now NORML is the leading support for stopping the Federal Government. So if you're reading this, get over to NORML.ORG and see what you can do to help. Please don't wait around...plans are already being put into place to raid these dispensaries and shut them down. And as the story implies. Make sure the people you are voting for are FOR Legalizing Marijuana and against Big Pharmacy.
and we in Colorado have a case hopefully being sent to the Colorado Supreme Court.. I also remember seeing a bit this summer about MiracleGrow going to market fertilizer targeted to growing. http://blogs.westword.com/late...
Actually...it is more than just them. this threatens all organizations and is bigger than each. this is a fairness issue. this is a people vs corporation issue. this is a government of the people vs a government for the corporations issue. ASA, LEAP, SSDP, MPP, NORML, MCA....these are all brothers and sisters for the same goal of the RIGHT to choose.
This is what Occupy Wall St. is fighting against - the abuse of power against the 99% of us, and nowhere is it clearer than in cannabis law.
Cannabis is the only real threat to big pharma's profits, so they'll spend crazy amounts of money to suppress it. Our government is run by the corporations with the deepest pockets and pharma has the deepest. On top of that, they're feeding everyone insanity and suicide-causing Prozac, Zoloft, Lunestra and all those other chemicals that effectively cloud rational thought.
We're taking these things because we trust our doctors. Our doctors are giving them to us because they need to make their vacation house mortgage payment, and it's just so convenient to believe the pharma reps (lovely women usually) who drop by frequently to give more free samples.
I wonder what percentage of pharma employees who really KNOW the dangers of these poisons take or let their family take any of them?
They're pushing us like we're gonna cave, but they don't know what they're up against. Knowledge is power, and science is solidly on our side. On top of that, they think we're fighting to smoke a doobie - they don't realize we are fighting for our lives. Cannabis has saved lives and has the potential to save countless more, with only the smallest investment in research once it's legal. They think we're all 20-something stoners (no disrespect intended!) but cannabis intelligence is spreading through all age groups and social strata, thanks to medical cannabis laws.
I voted for Obama because of his statements about not butting into state rights issues on cannabis.
I'll be voting for the most cannabis-friendly candidate for president next time. Democrat, Republican (pretty much the same when big $ is involved, as we see with Obama), Independent, Libertarian, Borneo Headhunter - don't care, cannabis is more important than any other issue, because legalizing it will fix so many of them we'll all be happier, healthier and there will be jobs all over in support of it.
Great post. Please note:
http://www.garyjohnson2012.com...
>>>"Despite our best efforts at enforcement, education and interdiction, people continue to use and abuse illegal drugs.
The parallels between drug policy today and Prohibition in the 1920’s are obvious, as are the lessons our nation learned. Prohibition was repealed because it made matters worse. Today, no one is trying to sell our kids bathtub gin in the schoolyard and micro-breweries aren’t protecting their turf with machine guns. It’s time to apply that thinking to marijuana. By making it a legal, regulated product, availability can be restricted, under-age use curtailed, enforcement/court/incarceration costs reduced, and the profit removed from a massive underground and criminal economy.
By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco – regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use – America will be better off. The billions saved on marijuana interdiction, along with the billions captured as legal revenue, can be redirected against the individuals committing real crimes against society. Harder drugs should not be legalized, but their use should be dealt with as a health issue – not a criminal justice issue."
~ Gary Johnson
You know that its kind ironic that doctors took the hippocratic oath to do no harm and never to misrepresent, but yet they prescribe these nasty pharmaceutical that do nothing but destroy the human body and cause the user to become addicted.
Isn't it horrible that so many people across our nation believe that cannabis is not an issue in our country at this time? I can't handle the craziness... and the other day I actually got told I should just be grateful for the fact that our government gives aid to people, including Social Security and Medicaid, and stop complaining about how the government is screwing people over.
Nevermind the fact that is paid for through taxes, it doesn't come out of the government's pockets. The comeback "If it wasn't for government people wouldn't get that money."
