Marijuana Now A Schedule 3 Drug

[kkt]

Wow, the president did something I actually approve of.

I am not interested in marijuana for myself but making it schedule 3 will maybe allow pot stores to have bank accounts like any other business.  Now they are magnets for robberies and burglaries because banks are not allowed to open accounts for businesses that are engaged in something still illegal.  And research on medical uses is almost impossible while it's schedule 1, maybe we'll learn more.  When my mom was a cancer patient her doctor suggested pot, and she did try it.  But there's no controlled dosage.  It's not like taking a pill that you know contains 600 mg of ibuprofen.  So she tried it and it was way, way too much - a very bad high.  She was 70 and it had been about 45 years since she last tried it, so there's probably changes in both her tolerance and the strength of the pot.

There will still need to be work done on the state and local levels - probably retaining criminalization for people who deal to kids or who hang out next to a high school and don't check ID, probably a local opt-out for cities, counties, or states who want to keep it illegal.

[mgk920]

Well, seeing as the History shows that the current Prohibition was pushed using anti-Mexican xenophobic attitudes fostered by frustrated 18th Amendment 'Drys' back in the 1930s, this is long overdue.

Mike

[kphoger]

Well, seeing as the History shows that the current Prohibition was pushed using anti-Mexican xenophobic attitudes fostered by frustrated 18th Amendment 'Drys' back in the 1930s, this is long overdue.

Doing so may paint an incomplete picture, but it's possible to tie the history of most common drugs' US criminalization to immigration.  Alcohol, meanwhile, was already an established part of European culture.

[JayhawkCO]

I just hate the smell of marijuana.

I don't care much for the smell of tobacco either but it is downright pleasant compared to the skunky smell of marijuana.

I am exactly the opposite. Cigarettes smell gross. Weed just smells like weed.

[wxfree]

Personally, I hold a tentative position that marijuana is not as hunky-dory as a lot of people make it out to be, and that it might be a good idea to keep it illegal for recreational use.  It's a tentative position, though, and I could easily be swayed to the other side.

However, making it a Schedule III drug doesn't actually mean that.  It just means it has an accepted medical use, that it isn't unsafe in every context.  That, to me, seems quite prudent, and it's what seems to me like it should have the broadest political support.

It's now under the same schedule as Vicodin.  I once accidentally took a gram of Vicodin on an empty stomach and then drove a box truck.  My trainee had given me two pills for a headache that he thought were Tylenol, but they were actually 500mg Vicodin.  Oops.  At our next stop, I had to lie down in the back of the truck for a while, and then he had to do the driving after that.

Things have changed.  Decades ago you'd smoke a bunch of it while your friends asked "are you were high yet?"  This is how it was portrayed in movies.  That stuff is relatively harmless, and advocates speak of legalization as if that were still true of the product today.  These days we have high efficiency marijuana, mind-blasting stuff that bears no relation, other than basic chemistry, to nature's product.  This is similar to cocaine, which is a natural product found in leaves that people have chewed on for energy for thousands of years.  We figured out how to extract and concentrate the product, which makes the same chemical into a completely different substance (even before you consider possible add-ons).  To me, a simple "yes or no" on prohibition doesn't cover the nuance of the modern products.  A thing shouldn't be banned just because it's fun, but some levels of concentration make it too easy to use destructive amounts of it.  I think the rescheduling is a good start to a more reasonable policy.

[hbelkins]

...waiting for Jeremy to weigh in on this thread...

[bugo]

It's now under the same schedule as Vicodin.  I once accidentally took a gram of Vicodin on an empty stomach and then drove a box truck.  My trainee had given me two pills for a headache that he thought were Tylenol, but they were actually 500mg Vicodin.  Oops.  At our next stop, I had to lie down in the back of the truck for a while, and then he had to do the driving after that.

Hydrocodone is a schedule II substance, unless it contains APAP, when it becomes schedule III.

If you took 500mg of hydrocodone, you would die. Those pills you took had 500mg of acetaminophen, not 500mg of hydrocodone. The strongest hydrocodone/APAP combination contains 10mg of hydrocodone.

[bugo]

I just hate the smell of marijuana.

I hate the smell of tobacco cigarettes and cheap beer breath. Doesn't mean I want Marlboros and Bud Light to be banned.

[bugo]

But there's no controlled dosage.  It's not like taking a pill that you know contains 600 mg of ibuprofen. 

Incorrect, at least with edibles. Edible packaging is clearly marked with the number of milligrams of THC per gummy.

[bugo]

These days we have high efficiency marijuana, mind-blasting stuff that bears no relation, other than basic chemistry, to nature's product.  This is similar to cocaine, which is a natural product found in leaves that people have chewed on for energy for thousands of years.  We figured out how to extract and concentrate the product, which makes the same chemical into a completely different substance (even before you consider possible add-ons).

You're thinking of moon rocks, which are cannabis buds coated in kief or other concentrates. Regular flower is high-potency because it has been bred to have high THC levels. It is still natural.

[JayhawkCO]

But there's no controlled dosage.  It's not like taking a pill that you know contains 600 mg of ibuprofen.

Incorrect, at least with edibles. Edible packaging is clearly marked with the number of milligrams of THC per gummy.

While I see that they're clearly marked, I find edibles incredibly inconsistent. They calculate the THC content by pan, and if it's not distributed completely evenly throughout, you have some that hit way less/more than others.

[kkt]

But there's no controlled dosage.  It's not like taking a pill that you know contains 600 mg of ibuprofen.

Incorrect, at least with edibles. Edible packaging is clearly marked with the number of milligrams of THC per gummy.

I dunno, I wasn't with her when she took it so I don't know if it was edibles or what.  This was late 2013 or early 2014, so maybe the labeling accuracy is better now.

[kphoger]

Hydrocodone is a schedule II substance, unless it contains APAP, when it becomes schedule III.

If you took 500mg of hydrocodone, you would die. Those pills you took had 500mg of acetaminophen, not 500mg of hydrocodone. The strongest hydrocodone/APAP combination contains 10mg of hydrocodone.

Thank you for the correction on both counts.

Looking into things, I suppose that what I took was 10 mg of hydrocodone and 1 gram of acetaminophen, as this was before the 2011 Vicodin dosage reduction.

[kalvado]

It's pretty difficult to "accidentally" consume a product containing cannabinoids anything if stored properly.

fixed?

Few simple rules to remember
1. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time.
2. If something just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

[Molandfreak]

It's pretty difficult to "accidentally" consume a product containing cannabinoids anything if stored properly.

fixed?

Few simple rules to remember
1. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time.
2. If something just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

Vagueposting does nobody any good.

[MikeTheActuary]

I am not interested in marijuana for myself but making it schedule 3 will maybe allow pot stores to have bank accounts like any other business

I think that works only if medical dispensaries start fulfilling the requirements of a pharmacy, and it still doesn't work for recreational dispensaries.

Reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III substance feels right, at least within the context of medical use

As far as recreational use....I'm not a fan of intoxicating substances in general, but I accept the futility of trying to prohibit them.

[bugo]

This isn't good news. It is a lateral move at best. This will open the doors for huge corporations to control the cannabis market. It might well make it harder to get legal cannabis, and it might even eliminate "recreational" (I hate that term) cannabis programs. This is nothing more than a distraction from the Epstein files.

[Scott5114]

This isn't good news. It is a lateral move at best. This will open the doors for huge corporations to control the cannabis market. It might well make it harder to get legal cannabis, and it might even eliminate "recreational" (I hate that term) cannabis programs. This is nothing more than a distraction from the Epstein files.

Good luck eliminating recreational cannabis no matter what category you put it in. In recreational states, there's too much money in the industry for any politician to try touching it without getting seriously burned. What I think you might see is a K-shaped trend where red states try and crack down on while blue and purple states open up more.

Nevada law allows for the operation of what is called a "consumption lounge", which is basically a bar but with cannabis instead of alcohol. A few have opened up but haven't done very well, except for the one that is right off the Strip (and across Sammy Davis from Trump Tower, actually; you would just have to walk past the Erotic Heritage Museum [current advertised exhibit: "Puppetry of the Penis"] to get to it). I would imagine that if red states crack down on this more you would see more consumption lounges in Las Vegas, as historically catering to people whose states ban stupid shit is how we make our money.

And that will be really funny because Nevada growers and processors don't fuck around. The first time I had Nevada weed it knocked me on my ass.

[Road Hog]

This isn't good news. It is a lateral move at best. This will open the doors for huge corporations to control the cannabis market. It might well make it harder to get legal cannabis, and it might even eliminate "recreational" (I hate that term) cannabis programs. This is nothing more than a distraction from the Epstein files.

Everything meaningful the DOJ released today was fully redacted, so there was little to distract from. Guess it's better than invading Venezuela.

[Flint1979]

Personally, I hold a tentative position that marijuana is not as hunky-dory as a lot of people make it out to be, and that it might be a good idea to keep it illegal for recreational use.  It's a tentative position, though, and I could easily be swayed to the other side.

However, making it a Schedule III drug doesn't actually mean that.  It just means it has an accepted medical use, that it isn't unsafe in every context.  That, to me, seems quite prudent, and it's what seems to me like it should have the broadest political support.

It's now under the same schedule as Vicodin.  I once accidentally took a gram of Vicodin on an empty stomach and then drove a box truck.  My trainee had given me two pills for a headache that he thought were Tylenol, but they were actually 500mg Vicodin.  Oops.  At our next stop, I had to lie down in the back of the truck for a while, and then he had to do the driving after that.

I remember the last time I took Vicodin. I was traveling from Saginaw, MI to Des Moines, Iowa and took some before leaving Saginaw. I got about halfway through Illinois and felt pretty sick from it, I haven't taken it since.

[Bobby5280]

I think it's a foregone conclusion big companies will eventually take over much of the cannabis market. Here in Oklahoma we're already seeing some consolidation among dispensary shops and growers. One shop buys out other dispensaries and becomes a growing chain of stores. That's only going to continue as the excitement about legal weed continues to wane. Some stores and grow houses are having trouble breaking even, making them more vulnerable to being bought out.

As the legal medical/recreational marijuana industry spreads across more states and gets large enough big agri-business companies will get involved and use their ability to scale to snuff out a lot of smaller players.

Also, the consumer market for weed is only so big. Not every adult is into using cannabis or other drugs. Big companies will be competing with smaller players for a market that will grow only so large. It could even shrink. Younger adults appear to be getting more health-conscious. They're certainly drinking less alcohol. A number of craft breweries have gone out of business. Rouge was a pretty good beer company based in Oregon. I've bought some of their beers, like Dead Guy Ale. They made some good India Pale Ales too. Rogue went into Chapter 7 liquidation in November.   

[Max Rockatansky]

Large commercial operations will always be able to under price small local anything.  If marijuana ever became fully legal on the Federal level it wouldn't take long for some big commercial interests to corner the market.

[Scott5114]

Also, the consumer market for weed is only so big. Not every adult is into using cannabis or other drugs. Big companies will be competing with smaller player for a market that will grow only so large. It could even shrink. Younger adults appear to be getting more health-conscious. They're certainly drinking less alcohol.

I think a lot of the drop-off in alcohol consumption is because some people who would be drinking are doing cannabis instead.

[Big John]

Also, the consumer market for weed is only so big. Not every adult is into using cannabis or other drugs. Big companies will be competing with smaller player for a market that will grow only so large. It could even shrink. Younger adults appear to be getting more health-conscious. They're certainly drinking less alcohol.

I think a lot of the drop-off in alcohol consumption is because some people who would be drinking are doing cannabis instead.

Thus Wisconsin tavern league lobbyists blocking even medical marijuana legalization in the state legislature.

[kkt]

I think it's a foregone conclusion big companies will eventually take over much of the cannabis market. Here in Oklahoma we're already seeing some consolidation among dispensary shops and growers. One shop buys out other dispensaries and becomes a growing chain of stores. That's only going to continue as the excitement about legal weed continues to wane. Some stores and grow houses are having trouble breaking even, making them more vulnerable to being bought out.

As the legal medical/recreational marijuana industry spreads across more states and gets large enough big agri-business companies will get involved and use their ability to scale to snuff out a lot of smaller players.

Also, the consumer market for weed is only so big. Not every adult is into using cannabis or other drugs. Big companies will be competing with smaller player for a market that will grow only so large. It could even shrink. Younger adults appear to be getting more health-conscious. They're certainly drinking less alcohol. A number of craft breweries have gone out of business. Rouge was a pretty good beer company based in Oregon. I've bought some of their beers, like Dead Guy Ale. They made some good India Pale Ales too. Rogue went into Chapter 7 liquidation in November.   

That's too bad.  I've had some excellent Rogue beers.

Small businesses always have a hard time.