Since 2003 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has held a patent for Cannabidiol, a drug that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has considered to have no medicinal value. According to the Controlled Substance Act, marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) and “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of cannabimimetic agents” is considered a Schedule I narcotic. “‘Cannabimimetic agents’ means any substance that is a cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1 receptor) agonist.”
As a Schedule I Controlled Substance, the drug or substance is supposed to have “high potential for abuse…has no currently acceptable medical use in treatment in the United States… and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.”
Let’s break these three points down:
High potential for abuse
While listed as a Controlled I Substance, the DEA describes that this U.S. patented drug cannabidiol (which includes CBD derived from cannabis containing psychoactive or non-psychoactive amounts of THC. This means both cannabis marijuana and cannabis hemp, respectively) is more dangerous than the highly addictive drug opium. However, throughout history cannabis has proven it is not an addictive drug but rather a habitual drug. Opium expert Dr. Donald Louria explains this in his 1966 book Nightmare Drugs. Conversely opium is one of the most highly addictive and abused drugs on earth, also explained in Dr. Louria’s book. Schedule II drugs also are considered to have high potential for abuse and opium definitely does.
No Currently Accepted Medical Use in Treatment in the U.S.
Well this is just ridiculous because I just explained that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office accepted a patent in 2003 which uses cannabidiol extracted from cannabis containing psychoactive or non-psychoactive amounts of THC as an antioxidant and neuroprotectant. Is it not considered a medical treatment because it is preventative care? If so, birth control is preventative care and that is still considered a medicine…
There is a Lack of Accepted Safety for Use of the Drug and Other Substances Under Medical Supervision.
This patent has really been around before 2003 and is held by the Department of Health and Human Services. Is the DEA trying to tell us that the Department of Health and Human Services isn’t a good representation of medical supervision? Or perhaps disapproval stems from the lack of knowledge about the medicine. If that is the case, isn’t research necessary before making claims that it has no medicinal value?
Why don’t we continue research on the “safety of use” because the side effects of cannabidiol have got to be better than the abuse of Schedule II drugs, which “may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.” If both antioxidants and neuroprotectants are good for the body, the side effects of cannabidiol are likely to be much better than all the side effects mentioned in xyz pharmaceutical commercials of which have likely not been under the microscope for even half of the time that cannabis has been analyzed.
So now that this information is on the table, why again is cannabidiol federally controlled?