Drug Czar: No Marijuana For Veterans With PTSD

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A petition which aimed to persuade the Obama Administration to allow military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to use medical marijuana was rejected by the White House.

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug,” and does not meet standards for safe or effective medicine, reports Patricia Kime at USA Today. (Apparently, “real” medicines are supposed to kill people in droves — you know, like all the poisons Big Pharma is peddling. Pot doesn’t do that.)
It’s particularly ironic, in a crazy-making sort of way, for the Drug Czar to answer any questions about legalizing marijuana for any purpose, since he is bound by law to oppose marijuana legalization. But if Kerli was feeling any of the irony, he didn’t let on; he was a good robot, mouthing meaningless platitudes on a dead stage.

But you’re not gonna believe how Kerli justified his hen-hearted lack of cojones.

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske — forbidden by law to advocate legalization — answered the veterans’ petition

“When the President took office, he directed all his policymakers to develop policies on science and research, not ideology or politics,” the Drug Czar said.
Did you get that? “Develop policies and science and research, not ideology or politics.”
The fact that Kerli didn’t catch a bolt from the blue when he told that whopper pretty much disproves the existence of a vengeful, Old Testament-type God, so we can dispense with that philosophical speculation and move on with our lives.
While the White House usually imposes a threshold of 25,000 signatures before it deigns to give an official response (up from the original 5,000), apparently the fact that this petition was by a veteran and for veterans gave it a little extra oomph — well, if you call getting shot down publicly “oomph.”
The “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans Access To Medical Marijuana To Treat Their PTSD” petition was launched last year by former Air Force Sgt. Mike Krawitz, who’s now executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.

StoptheDrugWar.org
Michael Krawitz, Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access: “To have our petition answered by the drug czar, an ex policeman, is most inappropriate” 

The drive was launched partially due to concern that veterans sometimes risk losing their V.A. medical coverage if they test positive for marijuana.
“For many, cannabis not only treats PTSD; it’s a lifesaver,” Krawitz told Military Times last October.
“We asked for a change in policy,” Krawitz said in May. “To have our petition answered by the drug czar, an ex policeman, is most inappropriate, given the drug czar is bound by law to ONLY discuss current law and has no power to discuss policy change with the public.
“Even the lowest ranking staffer at the White House or anyone from the Veterans Health Authority would have been more appropriate,” Krawitz said.
With suicides outnumbering combat fatalities by a ratio of 25 to 1, according to Dr. Julie Holland, editor of The Pot Book, “This, given how effectively cannabis works to save lives, is an unacceptable loss,” Krawitz said.
Kerlikowske claimed the Obama Administration’s official policy is that marijuana use is “associated with” cognitive impairment, respiratory illnesses and addition (scientific studies exist which debunk all these claims, hence Kerli’s supposed adherence to “science and research” is the purest of bullshit).
Kerli added that the administration supports research on the chemicals in marijuana to see if they “might have” medicinal value.
Translation? The federal government supports Big Pharma profiteering by maintaining an artificial monopoly on a plant that could grow in everyone’s backyard.
What’s worse, all that the pharmaceutical industry seems interested in peddling are inferior formulations of just one or two cannabinoids (usually THC, and sometimes, as in the case with GW Pharmaceutical’s Sativex,THC and CBD in a 1:1 proportion).
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