ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Common Sense look at Rescheduling Marijuana

Updated on May 13, 2016

"Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:

heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote"

-Drug Enforcement Agency

According to the DEA a Schedule 1 substance is a substance that has “no currently accepted medical use, and high potential for abuse…with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.”

Schedule 1 is the highest scheduling the DEA can give and is meant to contain the most harmful known substances. Even cocaine, methamphetamine, and methadone are only classified as schedule 2.

"No currently accepted medical use"

The first part of the Schedule 1 definition states a Schedule 1 substance has no accepted medical use.

Despite marijuana being listed as Schedule 1, Collective Evolution cites twenty different medical journals from around the world with evidence confirming its medicinal qualities. Among those was a study done by The British Journal of Cancer. The journal's research determined that the active chemical in Marijuana, Tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), inhibits tumor growth and in some cases can even destroy cancer cells.

Another study, from The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, found significant anti-tumor activity produced by Cannabidiol (CBD), another component of marijuana. The US National Library of Medicine which determined CBD inhibits breast cancer proliferation and a Harvard Medical study determining THC inhibits epithelial growth in lung cancer. For further research, here are over one hundred medical journals that discuss the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

Marijuana is also used as an appetite stimulant for patients and other patients who have severe difficulties keeping food down. Currently, the U.S. uses a chemical extract of marijuana to treat the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.

Cancer.gov, a U.S. government sponsored website, admits to the benefits and medicinal uses of marijuana, and states that patients using THC “reported potential antitumoral activity. If a government website openly admits to the medicinal potential of marijuana, how can the DEA continue classifying it as having no “currently accepted medicinal use”?

As far as being "currently accepted," the map below shows fifteen U.S. states that currently accept that medicinal use of marijuana.

Medical Marijuana Map

Fifteen states have Medical Marijuana laws, with many others considering them. Medical marijuana is a term that refers to the therapeutic use of marijuana most often associated with glaucoma, cancer and chronic or severe pains.
Fifteen states have Medical Marijuana laws, with many others considering them. Medical marijuana is a term that refers to the therapeutic use of marijuana most often associated with glaucoma, cancer and chronic or severe pains. | Source
Comparing rates of a addition between commonly abused substances.
Comparing rates of a addition between commonly abused substances. | Source

Comparative Dangers of Marijuana

The second half of the Schedule 1 definition states that schedule 1 drugs are: "the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence." However, marijuana is less harmful than almost all scheduled substances, and is less habit-forming than caffeine, alcohol and tobacco.

According to drugabuse.gov marijuana can lead to a decrease in motivation, tardiness at work and high job turnover. Drugabuse.gov also lists Schedule 2 substance side-effects that include: cardiovascular problems, hyperthermia, hallucinations, death. It stands to reason that substances that can cause death, heart problems and heat strokes are more dangerous than substances that lead to decreased motivation and tardiness at work.

Does marijuana have a ‘high potential for abuse’ with the high risk of ‘physiological or psychological dependency’? The answer, unsurprisingly, is no. At least not comparatively.

The phrasing “has high potential for abuse” refers to addiction. Addiction research shows that only 9% of regular marijuana users develop an addiction on average. This means that over 90% of marijuana users never become addicted. Compared to the 32% of tobacco users, 23% of heroin users, 15% of alcohol users and 17% of cocaine users. In fact a study published by Nature Neuroscience claims that even fast food might have more addictive properties than marijuana. Combined with fast foods' known negative effects on health, it’s might be reasonable to claim fast food is a better-suited candidate for schedule 1 than marijuana.

Do you believe marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 substance?

See results

Marijuana and Brain Damage

One of the reasons why marijuana was labeled as dangerous is a study done in 1974. This study commonly referred to as "The Heath/Tulane study" consisted of giving a monkey the equivalent of 2,700 high-potency marijuana cigarettes for 90 days straight. That’s roughly one and a quarter joints per hour.

When the monkey finally died, the researchers found that the monkey had lost a portion of brain cells, and concluded that marijuana smoke must be linked to brain-cell death. They also concluded that there must be a potential for overdose by marijuana.

This study did not account for the lack of oxygen that the monkey was experiencing. The monkey was kept inside an enclosed space and subjugated to nonstop smoke for ninety days. The monkey's brain was not losing cells from marijuana, it was losing them from cerebral hypoxia.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, cerebral hypoxia is "a condition in which there is a decrease of oxygen supply to the brain even though there is adequate blood flow." Cerebral hypoxia can result in severe brain damage or death. It's important to remember that smoke of any kind can deprive the brain of oxygen.

Since the Heath/Tulane study there has been no research suggesting that marijuana by itself leads to brain damage. Currently, the government accepts that you can't overdoes on marijuana.

Schedule IV

"Schedule IV drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence. Some examples of Schedule IV drugs are:

Xanax, Soma, Darvon, Darvocet, Valium, Ativan, Talwin, Ambien"

-Drug Enforcement Agency

Rescheduling

Marijuana meets zero qualifiers for a schedule 1 drug. There’s a wellspring of medical journals proving its medicinal purposes, and there’s physiological and psychological research showing its lack of highly addicted properties.

Based off precedence, it might not deserve to be a scheduled substance at all. I.e., it’s less addictive than alcohol and tobacco and substantially less harmful per-capita. Every year tens of thousands of people die from of alcohol poisoning and cigarette-related diseases, yet zero die from marijuana overdose. However, both alcohol and tobacco remain unscheduled substances.

In reality, according to the DEA’s classifications, descheduling marijuana would still be an unsound move. Marijuana does meet the requirements for Schedule 4. So while tobacco and alcohol do deserve to be scheduled substances, marijuana does too.

A Schedule 4 substance is one with low potential for abuse, and low risk of dependence. Xanax and Ambien are some examples of these types of substances. While marijuana may be less harmful than most Schedule 4 drugs, it does have notable negative side effects and a relevant correlation with abuse.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)