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Senator Calls Out Big Pharma On Opposing Marijuana


Restorium2

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 Senator Calls Out Big Pharma On Opposing Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on February 23, 2018 at 11:41:41 PT
By Tom Angell, Contributor 
Source: Forbes 

cannabis Washington, D.C. -- A prominent Democratic U.S. senator is slamming pharmaceutical companies for opposing marijuana legalization. "To them it's competition for chronic pain, and that's outrageous because we don't have the crisis in people who take marijuana for chronic pain having overdose issues," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said. "It's not the same thing. It's not as highly addictive as opioids are."

"On the federal level, we really need to say it is a legal drug you can access if you need it," she said.

Gillibrand, in an appearance on Good Day New York on Friday morning, was responding to a question about whether marijuana is a "gateway drug" that leads people to try more dangerous substances.

"I don't see it as a gateway to opioids," she said. "What I see is the opioid industry and the drug companies that manufacture it, some of them in particular, are just trying to sell more drugs that addict patients and addict people across this country."

Legalization advocates have long speculated that "Big Pharma" is working behind the scenes to maintain cannabis prohibition. And in 2016, Insys Therapeutics, which makes products containing fentanyl and other opioids, as well as a synthetic version of the cannabinoid THC, donated half a million dollars to help defeat a marijuana legalization measure that appeared on Arizona's ballot that year.

Numerous studies have shown that legal marijuana access is associated with reduced opioid overdose rates.

Research published this month, for example, concluded that "legally protected and operating medical marijuana dispensaries reduce opioid-related harms," suggesting that "some individuals may be substituting towards marijuana, reducing the quantity of opioids they consume or forgoing initiation of opiates altogether."

"Marijuana is a far less addictive substance than opioids and the potential for overdosing is nearly zero,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Health Economics.

Last week, Gillibrand became the second cosponsor of far-reaching Senate legislation to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and withhold federal funding from states that have racially disproportionate enforcement of cannabis laws.

“Millions of Americans’ lives have been devastated because of our broken marijuana policies, especially in communities of color and low-income communities,” she said at the time. "Legalizing marijuana is a social justice issue and a moral issue that Congress needs to address."

Gillibrand is also a sponsor of far-reaching medical cannabis legislation and recently signed a letter calling for new protections for state marijuana laws to be inserted into federal spending legislation.

"I think medical marijuana could be treatment for a lot of folks," she said in the interview on Friday. "A lot of veterans have told us that this is the best treatment for them. I do not see it as a gateway drug."

Many political observers have speculated that Gillibrand will run for her party's presidential nomination in 2020. She and at least two other potential Democratic contenders have already endorsed marijuana legalization.

Tom Angell publishes Marijuana Moment news and founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

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22 hours ago, Restorium2 said:

in 2016, Insys Therapeutics, which makes products containing fentanyl and other opioids, as well as a synthetic version of the cannabinoid THC, donated half a million dollars to help defeat a marijuana legalization measure that appeared on Arizona's ballot that year.

Isn't that a conflict of interest? Is our government proud of all the people it's killing by pushing opiods?

And, no one is speculating anything with regards to big pharma fighting legalization or de/reschedulization. That is obvious, no speculating.

Gosh, it'd be kinda embarrassing to be tied to big pharma with the opiod epidemic.

And, the news reporter is only focused on getting him to darn himself by supporting cannabis.

Seems Sessions'ish, to me.

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Bottom line is there still is no solid argument against it's legalization.   Laws were put in place without research to back them up.  Political smear campaigns were launched and were effective.  They were against the part of American society that could not defend itself.  It wasn't a hard sell to the American people at the time.  If they really want to solve a big health issue they should look at sugar.  Over consumption of the stuff (guilty, I love sweets) leads to a significant number of premature deaths in the states and around the world.  Legalize marijuana in all 50 states and territories and then launch an enormous campaign on educating people about nutrition.  Yah I know, that sounds terribly boring.  Did you know poor diet, inactivity and smoking lead to 900,000 premature deaths per year?  And then there is the cost of the care for those 900,000 people.

So my point is that, there are real problems to solve and real goals to work towards.  Legalize MJ already and then work on the issues that can make a huge impact.  

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