This week, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) announced the FDA’s August 16 decision to designate MDMA as a breakthrough therapy. Along with this designation, the FDA has approved Phase 3 trials to test the effectiveness of the drug in treating PTSD.
(ANTIMEDIA) One-third of FDA-approved drugs were later found to have safety risks, according to a recent analysis of drugs cleared by the agency between 2001 and 2010.
According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Among 222 novel therapeutics approved by the FDA from 2001 through 2010, 71 (32.0%) were affected by a postmarket safety event.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone published November 29, Barack Obama said that he doesn’t think legalizing marijuana would end America’s drug problem, but he believes it should be regulated like cigarettes and alcohol. The outgoing President added that regulating marijuana is a wiser way of handling the issue than continuing to treat it as a Schedule I drug. [1]
Source: Rolling Stone
On October 12, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said in a notice to be published in the Federal Register that it has formally withdrawn plans to ban kratom, an herb used by many as a natural medicine.
In August, the DEA outlined plans to classify mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, two active compounds in kratom, as Schedule I substances, alongside heroin, LSD, and (inexplicably) marijuana.
In just over a week, the herbal supplement kratom will be listed as a Schedule I as seen on the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. This is due to the fact that the capsules contain mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, 2 substances which although are naturally occurring in the plant, are now classified as harmful by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Just recently, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it would not reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug. However, the agency said it would try to make it easier for scientists and companies to access marijuana for research.
Many hoped that the Obama administration would reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule II substance this year, but no such luck. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced on August 11 that marijuana would remain illegal under federal law. Other Schedule I substances include heroin, LSD, peyote, ecstasy, quaaludes, and bath salts, among others. [1]
Right now, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, right alongside heroin, LSD, peyote, and ecstasy. That’s more than a little ridiculous, considering Schedule I drugs are classified as such because they have “no medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
We know that marijuana does, in fact, have numerous medical uses.
It looks like Obama might be addressing the question of federal pot reform – FINALLY – after skirting the issue practically since his inauguration.
Marijuana is known as a Schedule I substance in the United States. That means that it is completely worthless, harnesses ‘no medicinal value,’ and is evidently on the same level of heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. But marijuana can actually help treat numerous ailments, which is why the U.S. government has been juggling with its reclassification for decades.
Now, a legal dispute in California is shedding even more light on the issue in Washington, D.C., and could expedite its the plant’s impending reclassification.
