Washington Governor Chris Gregoire (D) isn’t running for re-election in 2012. That freedom could be the impetus for her signing on to November 30 letter (pdf) to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that petitions DEA “to initiate proceedings for the issuance of an amendment of a rule or regulation” that would reclassify medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. She is joined in the petition by Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island (R/I), who took office in January 2011.
The feds should be wary of a fight with Gregoire.
As head of the state Department of Ecology*, she negotiated an agreement with EPA and the Department of Energy (Tri-Party Agreement) to get the Hanford Nuclear Reservation cleaned up. As Attorney General, she sued the daylights out of the feds to make them keep to their agreement. In 2008, Gregoire called Hanford “the most dangerous contaminated site” in the U.S. as Washington again called on the courts to spur the feds into action. And she brought $4.5 billion to the state in the famous tobacco lawsuit, a lawsuit where she was a lead attorney.
They should also be wary of a fight with the public.
According to The Nation, in 1969, only 12% of Americans polled by Gallup favored legalizing marijuana. In October 2010, that number hit 46% for the nation and 58% for West Coast folk. Maybe that shift in mood is related to the fact that but 45% of the 1.7 million drug arrests made annually are for marijuana possession. Maybe it’s that today’s adults probably know someone who smokes pot.
Why Is The Petition Important?
If marijuana were reclassified as a Schedule II drug, then it could be dispensed by pharmacies. Even though medical use is legal in 16 states plus the District of Columbia, if a pharmacist were to dispense, she would put her license on the line. After all, the DEA is conducting regular raids in states where voters have thumbed their noses at the feds.
Prohibition didn’t work in the 20s, either, and there is only a little medical justification for alcohol consumption today. Ironically, marijuana legalization may lead to a decrease in alcohol-related traffic deaths, according to a recent research study (pdf)
Legalization of medical marijuana is associated with increased use of marijuana among adults, but not among minors. In addition, legalization is associated with a nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, most likely to due to its impact on alcohol consumption. Our estimates provide strong evidence that marijuana and alcohol are substitutes.
Interestingly, the researchers also found a correlation with decreased beer sales. Watch closely to see how the alcohol industry reacts. Sales were up 10% in the 12 months that ended in May 2011. In 2008, state and local governments collected $5.8 billion in alcohol taxes. The federal government collected $23.7 billion.
Just The Facts
The District of Columbia and 16 states have decriminalized marijuana for medical use. But the federal government does not believe that there is a medical role (it’s a “myth” they say) for marijuana.
Time reported on this topic in July, when the DEA finally rejected a 2002 petition for reclassification:
Not only does this decision conflict with state laws, however, it also conflicts with a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the branch of the National Academy of Sciences charged with answering complex medical questions for Congress.
[…]
In addition, in 2006 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an investigational new drug application, or IND — which grants permission to study a drug with the goal of approving it for marketing if it is safe and effective — for Sativex, an inhalable marijuana-derived drug, which includes both THC and CBD, the main active components of cannabis. So, while one federal agency says the drug is too risky for use even under medical supervision, another is studying it for possible approval for marketing.[…]
In the last three years alone, cannabinoids have been found to help kill breast cancer cells, fight liver cancer, reduce inflammation, have antipsychotic effects and even potentially help stave off the development of Alzheimer’s disease and reduce progression of Huntington’s disease.
By the way, all that research info is from … PubMed, published by the National Institutes of Health. And that 1999 report concluded that there was “potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs.”
It may seem like 2002 to 2011 is a long time to dither. But the LA Times noted:
This is the third time that petitions to reclassify marijuana have been spurned. The first was filed in 1972 and denied 17 years later. The second was filed in 1995 and denied six years later. Both decisions were appealed, but the courts sided with the federal government.
Just another example of how a change in Presidential party doesn’t necessarily result in a change in Presidential policy.
* Disclosure: when Gregoire was head of the Washington State DoE, I worked closely with her on two statewide policy committees. I contributed to both of her campaigns for governor, and, I believe, at least one of her campaigns for AG.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com