It was only a
few months ago that the Drug Enforcement Administration made their
decision, once again, to deny petitions to reschedule cannabis in the
Controlled Substances Act. However, in an official DEA document
titled “Denial of Petition to Initiate Proceedings to Reschedule
Marijuana”, they made statements for the first time which actually
contradict their fear mongering of the past, including: “At
present, the available data do not suggest a causative link between
marijuana use and the development of psychosis” and “Numerous
large, longitudinal studies show that subjects who used marijuana do
not have a greater incidence of psychotic diagnoses compared to those
who do not use marijuana.”
While these
statements do not necessarily mean that the DEA is in any way
validating medical marijuana, it does mean that they have
contradictory information provided on their official website – and
the group Americans for Safe Access have filed a petition to the DEA
asking them to update the information, or at least remove the
misleading and incorrect information. They are able to do so because
of a law called the Information Quality Act, also known as the Data
Quality Act, which are guidelines set forth to ensure the “quality,
objectivity, utility, and integrity of information” that is
distributed.
“We
have taken this action to stop the DEA’s relentless campaign of
misinformation about the health risks of medical cannabis in its
tracks,” said Vickie Feeman of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,
a Silicon Valley partner who’s pro bono counsel to the nonprofit
petitioners. “We’re hoping this is a very straightforward
petition. We’re going after specific statements they themselves
have said in recent reports are wrong.”
The group has
cited no less than 25 different mentions to marijuana by the DEA that
contradict their most recent statements – including ones saying
“Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis
use—from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and
outright psychosis—is mounting and cannot be ignored.” That one
in particular, contradicts the earlier statement from their denial of
the petition where they agreed that there is no link or causation
between marijuana and increased risk of psychosis. These sorts of
claims are found throughout the DEA’s information, which is
supposed to be the official government source of reliable information
regarding cannabis.
“For
years, the DEA has published scientifically inaccurate information
about the health effects of medical cannabis, directly influencing
the action —and inaction— of Congress.
We are simply
taking the DEA’s own statements, which confirm scientific facts
about medical cannabis, and analysis that has long been accepted by a
majority of the scientific community.” American’s for Safe Access
executive director Steph Sherer said in a statement on their official
website. “Our request is simple: the DEA must change its public
information to better comport with its own expressed views, so that
Congress has access to the appropriate tools to make informed
decisions about public health. Alternatively, ASA requests that the
DEA simply remove the inaccurate statements or the documents in their
entirety.”
At this
point, the Drug Enforcement Administration will have 60 days to
respond to this petition – and this time, the chances of them being
able to deny the petition and take no action are very slim. The
Information Quality Act was created specifically for instances like
this, when the views of experts are not being reflected on official
government websites and literature, where people are supposed to be
able to look for the most reliable information.
Story
Source: The above story is based on materials provided
by MARIJUANATIMES
Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length
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