This is where medical marijuana is heading. (Photo: Conselleria de Sanitat)
I have long predicted that the federal government will soon recognize that they can no longer maintain the Schedule I lie about cannabis. By ever-increasing numbers people are recognizing that contrary to Schedule I, marijuana has amazing medical benefits. The growing awareness of marijuana’s relative safety has us at a place where there are more people who think marijuana is safer than alcohol and ought to be legalized than people who support continuing prohibition.
So if your goal is to keep marijuana illegal and lock people up for it, you have to diminish the power of people’s compassion for the sick and disabled to use marijuana. What better way to do that than to create cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals that provide all the medical potential of the plant? Patients get the medicine they need and they get it in what would be federally-legal in every state. They’d likely get it paid for through their health insurance at costs below that of $15/gram dispensary cannabis. Then the only fight left for patients would be access to plant cannabis, which the government would still deny for fear of “fungible” medical cannabis ending up in the hands of the recreational users.
Medical marijuana supporters, this is the future that waits. The time to fight for full legalization for all uses is now… or soon the most sympathetic cases for marijuana use will be removed from the fight and it will only be about “stoners trying to get high”.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.
A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world’s first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents— a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013.
Opponents and supporters of crude marijuana’s effectiveness generally agree that more research is needed. And marijuana advocates fear that the government will use any new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuana use.
“To the extent that companies can produce effective medication that utilizes the components of the plant, that’s great. But that should not be the exclusive access for people who want to be able to use medical marijuana,” Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes said. “That’s the race against time, in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government to recognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with the magic bullet pharmaceutical pill.”
Kris, the government does recognize the medical use of the plant. Despite their public pronouncements, the officials involved can see with their own two eyes the multiple sclerosis patient whose tremors quiet, the chemo patient who stops puking, and the glaucoma patient who can still see after smoking a joint – that’s why they’re moving forward on cannabinoid drug development. The government already grows and distributes this plant for its medical value to four remaining patients on the Investigational New Drug program. The reason the government still bans its medical use as a plant is because the government also recognizes its recreational use as a plant.
Until that recreational use is made legal, the government will always oppose the medical use of raw plant cannabis. The fight for complete marijuana legalization IS the issue of medical marijuana now.
Contact your elected representatives and urge them to 'Stop Arresting Marijuana Smokers'. 
I saw a date of 2013. I think this date is a bit premature. I’d speculate more like 2015. Either way the post is on target. If WE THE PEOPLE do not do anything serious about it we may lose the rights to a Organic Plant freely grown nearly world wide with un-taped benefits. We need to unite and defeat the special interests that are already feeding our government money and mis-information. I am sure there are plenty of articles here simply search for them. Knowledge is power – Read – Research – React – If you would like a few serious scientific facts about Big Pharma and the medicinal values of Marijuana search online, Google & youtube it. We Need To UNITE together – They are not kidding about big Pharma and its sphere of influence like the article said, “the government will use any new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuana” Just look what they have done so far.
2 1/2 years ago I was a part of the very 1st 2 CME’s (Continued Medical Education) on Medical Marijuana held in LA for Medical Professionals at Good Samaritan Hospital (Ranked 3rd in the nation at the time). We included Various Doctors, Pathologists, researchers from ProCon, and even a OG Attorney from Fenton Nelson. We covered some ground breaking intel however, I quickly realized the opposition was strong and 2 panels were not enough, and I set out to do more. You can go to mygreenbee.com and click the Trending Topics, or for concise information review the Blog.
Along with Russ I too have been saying for years its just a matter of time before medical marijuana is destroyed, not by police or state laws or even the DEA but by the FDA and big Pharma holding hands, all to approve a medicine that will be sold on every corner drug store! Yet they will continue or even ramp up their war on cannabis consumers, non medical or not, if you dont buy the Spray from XY and Z then your a criminal for using it! Also if you didnt notice its only going to be approved for cancer pain only, so the rest of you medical users for everything but cancer pain, guess what, your criminals again too!
Though the one and only good thing in this whole story will be the Government finally admitting they lied and that cannabis is medicine, but will it be too late to use that to legalize once and for all? If they have this spray on the shelves then yes it will be! Guess the new trend will be driving to FL like people do today to get pain pills but they will get cannabis spray! Not good folks!
Yeah, I saw on the morning news in the ticker that “a” drug company was turning a “marijuana based compound” over to the FDA for approval. I’m guessing it’s GW but they didn’t specify. It would do the drug companies good if they’d stop lobbying against the people they are supposedly trying help. Now if we can get a prisoner exchange program going… oh that’s right it’s a one sided war.
Russ made the point already, if you argue for medical marijuana as a dual right then your arguing for the right to give up your raw marijuana as medicine. Its only a matter of time for Pharma to come up with pseudo marijuana medicine that is almost as effective as the raw form it self. Its naive to believe that science can not come up with an alternative that will get threw the DEA and on to FDA approval! I mentioned dual rights because I’ve noticed that medical marijuana activists mention that patients have more of a right to medicine then the recreational user. That is a horrible difference to make. I have as much of a right as any to use a substance that is less harmful then Alcohol, Tobacco and caffeine! The recreational user suffers from continued abuses that are as harmful as not getting the medicine that works for patients. The fact is our children get arrested and then disenfranchised from federal school grants. The arrest record will forever make them second class citizens. The arrest rate for African American and Latino men and women are disproportionate to the rate of use in their communities. The most important point that needs to be made is recreational marijuana users that suffer the abuses of drug prohibition is just as askew as not getting marijuana for medicine.
Finally some one who is pro pot and understands the threat this pharmacutical mj poses to the mj users and legalization for everyone… i find it discuraging when hightimes writers actually praise this new medicine… as if GW pharma didn’t pour tons of cash into keeping the plant illegal just so it could turn around and profit off the same plants..