The FDA has received input from more than 2,000 individuals on the rescheduling of cannabis and other drugs just over a week after putting out the call for public comment, Marijuana Moment reports.
The FDA announced on October 10 it was seeking public comment about the “abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking, and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use” for cannabis and other psychotropic substances currently scheduled.
Many comments include insightful personal stories and other anecdotes about the medicinal value of cannabis.
Some highlights:
“I have severe chronic musculoskeletal pain from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that has not responded to any medication. Pregabalin made me suicidally depressed and caused me to self-injure again after years of stopping that behavior.
“I live in Illinois and have a medical cannabis card. Cannabis is the only medication that has alleviated the existential dread that comes with knowing that I will continue to experience terrible pain for every moment of the rest of my life. It is a profoundly effective pain medication, appetite stimulant, and sleep aid. It is also physically impossible to die from a cannabis overdose unless you have an underlying heart condition, which just emphasizes the need to reduce harm by legalizing it so doctors can sensibly discuss its use with their patients.”
From Benjamin Schmidt:
“More evidence continues to show it has immense health benefits and is exponentially less harmful than Alcohol. Evidence shows it helps in many avenues and also greatly in withdrawal and transitioning out of hard drugs such as opiates and methamphetamine. In efforts to help control and reduce substance abuse among these dangerous drugs, we should follow suite with Canada and remove it from Federal classification as it is.”
From James Gould:
“The War on Drugs has shown to be a failure. End the War on Drugs – arresting people for personal possession does not reduce drug use rates, does not reduce drug overdose rates, and does not reduce youth access to substances. Our drug problem is one of public health, not a criminal problem. We should be joining countries such as Portugal, Canada, and the Netherlands in moving towards sensible drug policies based in compassion and reason.”
Of course, not all respondents were in favor of loosening cannabis restrictions.
Eric R. Eliason of Utah writes:
“Hi my name is Eric R. Eliason and I live in Provo, UT. While in college I took two puffs of a joint and my grades suffered.
I usually get As in math but the next semester I got Fs in all my classes (except an A in tennis where I cheated).
Marijuana impairs judgment and stays in your system for a very long time. Drugs are bad for you.
We need critical thinkers for our economy.
They say it stunts your growth if you do it before 25, but even after 25 you can still grow neurons.
It messes with the brain in many ways that are documented.”
The deadline for submissions to the FDA is October 31st. If you haven’t said your piece, now’s the time.