Contributor: LV Cannabis Reviews
The government’s stance on marijuana has always been laughably misguided and severely uneducated. For one reason or another, these moronic elected officials don’t know the first thing about cannabis, and its wealth of positive, medicinal benefits. Which is why they’ve lumped it in the same pile as actually lethal drugs like heroin and meth. Such a categorization is criminal, in my personal opinion.
And for the longest time, they’ve seen absolutely no need to change their idiotic stance on the issue. They have been steadfast in their ways, and never even entertained the idea of opening up their minds to actually learning about cannabis. The government has been so strict about marijuana, that they only allow one specific farm to grow all of their “research bud.” If one were to guess where this government-approved farm would be, they would probably assume it’s located in a more fruitful part of the nation – like Humboldt or Seattle.
Nope. Mississippi.
The University of Mississippi, to be specific. And this place is famous for its horrendous cannabis. It’s probably the least desired marijuana in the entire country. But our government has “wisely” deemed this to be the only location to secure cannabis from in order to test it for its effects. Obviously, I was being sarcastic in that last sentiment, but it’s really comical how misguided these Washington cronies are when it comes to marijuana. Many cannabis researchers have begged, pleaded, and petitioned for the Drug Enforcement Agency to allow multiple growers to provide quality marijuana for them to analyze.
Doing so would increase the knowledge we so desperately need, and it would be through the studying of buds that are commonly found at the average dispensary. Not some dirt country weed that no one would ever want to smoke. It’s really not that hard of a decision, but for one reason or another, the government has continued to drag its feet on the issue. In 2016, the DEA publicly agreed to start accepting applications from outside growers. And while a ton of cultivators have attempted to acquire such a license, they have all been ignored every step of the way.
But this week, merely a couple of days before a court-ordered deadline, the DEA has (again) officially announced that it will take on new growers. They even went ahead and processed the 34 applications that were awaiting approval this whole time. Which is nice and all, but who knows if these politicians will stick to their word. They certainly didn’t last time, so skepticism is more than deserved in this particular case.
After the news was announced, the Attorney General pretended like he was happy to hear the DEA make such a move. But he did so in a way that made it seem like everyone wanted to allow outside growers in. However, it took a federal court judge forcing them to do so for this to happen. So, it doesn’t really feel like it was their idea, if I may be so bold. I mean, if it were, no courts would’ve been needed – and this entire topic would’ve been a non-issue.
The suit, itself, was initially brought on by Dr. Sue Sisley – a cannabis analyst and researcher from Arizona. Like many others, she applied to provide medical cannabis to the DEA for analytical studies, but every attempt to reach out to them was met with silence. With her frustration mounting to new heights, she realized the DEA was never going to do anything it wasn’t forced to do, so she enlisted the help of a federal court.
In regards to the case she brought forth against the DEA, Dr. Sisely commented, “We simply want them to make good on this pledge to the public. They promised the U.S. citizenry that they would finally end this monopoly and license other growers for research. And they’ve not followed through on this pledge.” Which is the most eloquent way to summarize her motivation behind taking this case to federal court. Seems nothing but logical to me. But Dr. Sisely isn’t naive. She is well aware that this government agency may go back on their promise of outside growers. Hey, they’ve done it before. But that doesn’t mean she’s hopeless. Quite the opposite. She saw this as a major victory and a massive step towards progress.
Specifically, she said, “Now we just need to keep the DEA’s feet to the fire and make sure they follow their own timelines they laid out in today’s public notice. It’s going to take a long time to get access to newly cultivated cannabis material for research, but at least that door is now kicked open.” Shane Pennington, one of Dr. Sisely’s legal representatives, echoed his client’s statement in a comment he made following the DEA’s game-changing announcement. Pennington said, “There’s only so much leash the courts will give them. The end is now in sight.” And he couldn’t be more correct.
There’s only so much avoidance a government agency can get away before they become legally obligated to make good on their word. And, honestly, why the hell haven’t they? It really doesn’t make any sense to me. Like, none, at all. I’m beyond flummoxed with their bizarre denial of responsibility. Typically, the government, in general, can come across as tremendously greedy and money-hungry. Which leads one to believe that all of their corruption is done in exchange for absurd sums of ill-begotten money. In short, if it’ll make them some extra cash, most government officials don’t mind committing criminal acts of corruption.
So, it makes even less sense that they would forbid outside growers to help with their cannabis research. The marijuana industry is probably one of the most profitable in our society, and hoards of cash are being swapped all the time. If the government realized how much money they would earn by embracing the legalization of cannabis, all of these issues would be resolved. Once they learn how much they stand to earn by helping regulate the industry, via taxes and whatnot, they’d be kicking themselves for not doing it sooner. It’s already helped multiple states gain tons of money through legalization – and all of that income is used to better their cities and infrastructure. It’s a “win, win” for all parties involved – a “no brainer” if you will.
But the fact that the DEA continues to stiff-arm the cannabis industry, and stick with its outdated approach to marijuana analysis is straight-up stupid, in my personal opinion. However, if we keep pressing them to actually do what they promise to do, we’re going to see a lot of progress in this regard. It’s just increasingly frustrating to see our elected officials mishandle their governmental responsibilities like this.
That’s why it’s best to stay positive and proactive when it comes to issues of this nature. If we were to simply sit back and twiddle our thumbs, hoping our government would deliver on its promises, I doubt that any step in the right direction would’ve ever occurred. Which is why I, much like Dr. Susy Sisely, consider this a major win for the cannabis community – and it deserves to be celebrated. So grab your stash, some papers, and roll one up for the “good guys” – because this sort of victory is long overdue and much deserved.
