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The First Brick in the Wall?

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Can you imagine what it felt like to be the first person chipping at the Berlin Wall with a sledgehammer? Swinging with all your might to puncture that first hole in the ideological barrier dividing a nation.

The war on cannabis in America has felt similar for decades. The DEA serves as border patrol, enforcing prohibition despite the damage inflicted on communities.

 

Like with Cold War Berlin, we’ve only glimpsed legalization through cracks, while they aim to fortify the status quo. But maintaining this division has caused as much harm as any totalitarian regime.

The DEA justifies it as “public safety” even as drugs pervade max security prisons. You can’t restrain human nature with handcuffs. People want what people want.

 

But the DEA is strategically clinging to outdated mandates, stalling as the tides of history pass them by. They know nationwide legalization is inevitable, so they’re angling to shape-shift into the new enforcers.

Now Congress has challenged their legitimacy by demanding full descheduling. That first true sledgehammer blow to start dismantling their wall.

 

The DEA feels its footing tremble as public opinion sways. They can’t suppress this awakening forever.

This could be the first rupture signaling impending policy change. Or the DEA may fortify in defiance a bit longer. Either way, prohibition’s days now seem numbered as reform momentum builds.

The letter reflects the people’s will, not rogue politicians. Americans are rightly questioning cannabis’s Schedule 1 status and deserve transparency, not redacted reports.

 

Only time will tell if the wall crumbles rapidly or through drawn out siege. But eventually the divide must collapse to free this plant and restore civil liberties. With enough voices united, the old mentality buckles.

 

Unlike other wars, cannabis proved that legalization is possible. It’s no longer “if”, but “yes” it certainly can be done effectively. Colorado dispensaries have a 99% compliance with their age requirements, whereas under prohibition – street dealers don’t care. Well, perhaps some of them care, but you get the picture…they don’t card on the streets!

 

Nonetheless, it’s refreshing to see some parts of Congress lobbying and swinging hammers until the whole wall comes down. The DEA’s days as ideological border patrol are numbered. However, this makes them all the more dangerous. They are increasing research, sending redacted reports as if it’s some top secret shit no one knows about….but before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s go back to the beginning….

 

 

If you haven’t heard…a coalition of 31 bipartisan House lawmakers recently sent a historic letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram regarding federal cannabis policy.

The core message? That the DEA should go beyond simply rescheduling cannabis to fully removing it from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) altogether.

 

The letter argues the DEA’s ongoing review of cannabis scheduling “represents a necessary step in the work to end the federal government’s failed and discriminatory prohibition of cannabis.”

 

However, it notes that rescheduling alone has significant limitations:

 

“Additionally, ending the unjust scheduling of marijuana and normalizing federal cannabis regulation go hand-in-hand. The federal government must correct this prohibition and the continued criminalization of otherwise legal marijuana—creating legal job opportunities, promoting public safety not unjust incarceration, and upholding established state regulation of cannabis production, taxation, and sales.”

 

The lawmakers urge the DEA to recognize that full descheduling, not just rescheduling, is needed:

“The administration and relevant agencies such as yours should recognize the merits of full descheduling and work with congressional leaders to ensure this happens.”

 

They argue descheduling would help law enforcement priorities and support state-legal cannabis businesses:

 

“Descheduling is necessary to end the harmful federal marijuana prohibition and help our law enforcement officers appropriately prioritize public safety. Descheduling also provides the clearest path to address the legal uncertainty facing small businesses in states with regulated cannabis markets by creating opportunities for regulating and taxing commercial marijuana activities.”

 

Additionally, the letter notes the public opinion trends and state policy shifts that make maintaining cannabis prohibition untenable:

 

“The vast majority of states have enacted some form of legalization, and members from both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation to follow suit at the federal level. Additionally, the House has twice passed comprehensive legalization legislation.”

 

It concludes the DEA must update its stance to reflect political and social realities:

 

“It is time that [DEA’s] work fully reflects this reality as well. Marijuana’s continued inappropriate scheduling is both arcane and out-of-touch with the will of the American people.”

 

This historic letter signals growing Congressional momentum to end federal prohibition. It directly presses the DEA to cooperate with descheduling or risk being overruled legislatively.

 

 

The DEA just pulled a seriously “shady move” in response to calls for cannabis rescheduling. Rather than show its work, they sent Congress a highly redacted letter that concealed their process and positions.

This evasive non-transparency perfectly captures why the DEA can’t be trusted as an objective agency – they serve themselves and pharma paymasters, not the public.

 

Let’s examine how sketchy this is. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended the DEA reschedule cannabis to Schedule III. This reflects accumulated evidence it has medical value while simultaneously paying homage to their pharma overlords.

 

But rather than share the full scientific report outlining this rationale, the DEA’s 2-page response to Congress blacks out everything substantive – the date, author, and review contents are literally redacted.

 

All we can see is the agency stalling and shielding itself from accountability. This is governance by opacity and obstruction.

 

It’s appalling that an agency empowered to deprive citizens of liberty operates completely in the shadows. They act as ideological enforcers, not public servants.

 

This latest evasion comes amidst unprecedented pressure to reform prohibition. With untenable status quo crumbling, the DEA is in face-saving self-preservation mode.

 

Rather than have an honest dialogue around cannabis, they hide behind smokescreens. Because open transparency would reveal the façade of “safety” propping up prohibition.

 

Unlike other agencies, the DEA clings to a militarized, anti-science posture as democracy passes it by. It fears the light because it knows its power relies on shadow governance backed by fear, not facts.

A just authority would welcome open public scrutiny of its processes. It would demonstrate commitment to “following the science” with full transparency.

 

But the DEA inverts such democratic norms. They evade and obfuscate because full disclosure would undermine their agenda and legitimacy.

 

This mentality emanates directly from the agency’s roots in oppressing minorities and anti-war activists. It’s never been about humane governance.

 

The DEA’s secretive behavior begs some troubling questions:

 

  • Why does a tax-funded agency feel entitled to redact science from public view? Whose interests does this secrecy serve?

  • How can they claim authority while avoiding scrutiny? What are they hiding in these reports?

  • Why does an unelected agency wield such unilateral power over health policy against public opinion?

  • Why won’t they engage in good faith dialogue around cannabis? What fears make them retreat into the shadows?

  • How much influence does pharmaceutical lobbying have over DEA policy? Follow the money trail.

  • Can we trust scientific conclusions shaped entirely behind closed doors by entrenched ideologues? Blind trust in authority invites abuse.

 

The time has come to shed light on this shadowy agency and restore legitimacy. Operating clandestinely, the DEA invites zero confidence in its impartiality. They must now choose either transparency or irrelevance. Because democracy demands public agencies answer to those they govern, not special interests.

 

The days when an elite cabal could shape public consciousness from smoke-filled rooms are coming to an end. We can see it in all sectors of society. I don’t know how, I don’t know exactly when – they will all come tumbling down and as a result the DEA will become obsolete over time, consumed by other agencies or simply replaced by something that actually works to serve the people.

 

Prohibition arose from propaganda and racism, not reason or care. We who have suffered under its abuses will no longer tolerate governance without consent or accountability. If the DEA redacting its findings isn’t enough to make you question their motives – then you’re probably a fed.

 

 

As the first brick gets hammered from the Berlin Wall of prohibition, louder tremors rumble through the halls of shadow governance. The DEA and their globalist puppeteers feel their power eroding in this new age of transparency.

 

For decades, elite cabals shaped public policy behind a veneer of democracy. But now the veil lifts, exposing how agencies like the DEA act not as neutral arbiters of science but enforcers of special interest agendas.

 

This reflects the larger decline of trust in institutions built not on reason but suppression and propaganda. The facade crumbles away, and the people begin reclaiming their sovereignty.

 

Make no mistake, those drunk on power cling desperately to control as it slips through their fingers. The DEA tries obscuring truth to fortify the walls, hoping to ride out this swell of public awakening and scrutiny.

 

But the tide of history tolerates no masters, no matter their wealth or weapons. The divine clock brings all to justice in the end. The more the DEA retreats into unaccountable shadow governance, the faster their legitimacy dies. Their refusal to engage openly reveals the bankruptcy of lies underpinning prohibition. Only for those who are willing to see of course. And fortunately, there are more and more of us every single day.

 

Rather than evolve – because it is against their very nature –  they vainly fortify a status quo already buckling under its own lies. But eventually, the monolith fractures from inner decay. No barrier survives the people united.

 

The globalists miscalculated badly, thinking cannabis prohibition could be upheld indefinitely through force and propaganda. Or maybe they knew this day would come as even Berlin’s edifice came tumbling down before a wave of truth.

 

Now the cracks in their dividing wall widen as we keep chipping away in solidarity. Soon, the final barricades must collapse before the swelling tides of reform.

Let the clumsy machinations of obsolescent orders flail and resist. No rulers can maintain the grip of oppression for too long as they awaken a slumbering giant, ready to eradicate the parasite class.

 

The sticky bottom line is this: we the people write the final chapter. No policy can reign without public consent or complacency. And the light of conscience shines into even the deepest cellars of corruption.

 

One of these days, the giant will awaken…and this wall will come crumbling down. Stay vigilant fellow stoners!

 

THE DEA IS CRUMBLING, READ ON…

THE DEA IS CRUMBLING

SMOKING A JOINT WHILE THE DEA EMPIRE CRUMBLES?

 



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MLK Day 2025: Cannabis and Civil Rights

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It’s MLK Day once again.

I’ve been writing an MLK Day post on this blog for eight consecutive years. The theme of my posts is that cannabis is a civil rights issue, and that Dr. King would have advocated for ending prohibition based on that fact.

Each year, I have demonstrated with facts (upon facts upon facts) that the War on Drugs continues in insidious ways. In, 2023, which is the most recent year that FBI data is available, law enforcement officials made over 200,000 arrests for marijuana-related convictions. Those 200,000 arrests constitute roughly 25% of all drug-related arrests.

Sadly, arrests of black people constituted 29% of all drug arrests in 2023, although only 13.6% of Americans are black.

Heading into MLK Day weekend, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses. The focus was predominantly on individuals “who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine…”, as opposed to cannabis-related crimes. According to the Last Prisoner Project, “the total number of those incarcerated for cannabis who received commutations is not knows, but nine LPP constituents will be free.”

For all that Biden promised as to cannabis, it’s the least we could have asked. Under the new Trump administration, attention will quickly return to the frustrating marijuana rescheduling process. If cannabis ends up on Schedule III, criminal penalties for traffickers may soften, but make no mistake: possessing and distributing cannabis will still be a federal crime.

At the state level, where most arrest occur, progress has slowed in the last few years. Out here where I live in Oregon, with our 800 cannabis stores, it’s astonishing to think of 200,000 annual cannabis arrests– most for simple possession, no less.

There is a lot of work to do. Here are a short list of organizations if you’d like to get involved:

For prior posts in this series:



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No Smoking, No Vaping – What’s the Safest Way to Consume Cannabis Based on Your Genetics and Science?

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The Safest Way To Consume Cannabis For Health, According To Science and Genetics

 

Marijuana legalization continues to help thousands of people.

Most especially those who need marijuana to treat conditions in a safer, more natural, and more cost-effective manner compared to pricey, addictive, and dangerous pharmaceutical medications. That said, not all weed is made the same: depending on where you get your weed, some of it may be grown using pesticides, which can be bad for your health especially when smoked. So yes, it does matter what kind of weed you’re smoking and where you got it from.

In addition, not all methods of consumption are also the same. Many consumers, particularly extremely health-conscious individuals, prefer not to smoke weed. Smoking weed that’s been grown with pesticides can also be dangerous for one’s health. It’s especially not recommended if you are immunocompromised,

 

That’s why a growing number of consumers prefer to explore the variety of other consumption methods available these days, such as edibles, tinctures, beverages, and cannabis oil to name a few.

Now, the results of a new study have just been published, suggesting that cannabis oil extracts may be the safest way to consume weed. Researchers studied MCT oils that contained high concentrations of CBD with some THC.

 

“Several studies have found damage to various chromosomal associated with cannabinoid use,” said the researchers. “Considering numerous studies demonstrating the genotoxicity of cannabis, it is noteworthy that many of these investigations have focused on individuals who consume cannabis through smoking or in cigarette form, normally rich in THC,” they said.

 

The researchers specifically found that extracts of cannabis sativa don’t exhibit genotoxic or mutagenic potential in doses that are commonly used by patients to manage anxiety, pain, epilepsy, and other conditions. “Although the current literature on cannabis sativa extract remains inconsistent, most evidence suggests that these extracts are safe for cells and DNA under both acute and chronic experimental conditions, even at high doses, in studies involving both male and female animals,” wrote the researchers.

 

Some consumers were alarmed recently when studies, albeit weak in nature, were published, which suggested that cannabis smoke had the potential to be genotoxic. That said, it still isn’t recommended for individuals who may be immunocompromised but there is no strong evidence that cannabis can indeed cause genetic mutations.

 

Since oral consumption of cannabis oil bypasses the respiratory system and allows patients a more accurate way to dose, it’s become the preferred method of consumption for many medical cannabis patients. Whether you’re young or old, the safety profile of cannabis oil has been proven; this is especially true if you wish to avoid respiratory harm.

 

The Role Of Quality Cannabis In Health

 

As cannabis consumers, there are many ways you can ensure that you’re medicating with clean, safe cannabis that’s free from dangerous contaminants. Pesticides aren’t the only contaminants to be aware of; street cannabis sold by dealers can be laced with toxic additives and even fatal ingredients, such as in the notorious case of the tainted THC vapes containing Vitamin E acetate. Other undesirable ingredients to take note of include residual solvents and heavy metals.

 

It’s also your role as a consumer to do research about the quality of cannabis you buy. Of course, it makes sense to only buy from licensed cannabis dispensaries since they can easily supply laboratory-tested cannabis products. From edibles to oils, flowers and more, licensed dispensaries can provide products that have a Certificate of Analysis or COA, which can either be printed on the packaging itself, accessed online, or via a QR code. A cannabis product with a COA can give you peace of mind that the product meets stringent testing and quality standards.

 

In addition, you can also seek out certified organic cannabis products. Of course, the fact that cannabis still isn’t federally legal means that there is nothing similar to a USDA Organic certification for weed, though some manufacturers make it easier for consumers these days to know if they are buying organic or not. For example, if you live in California, you can look for Clean Green Certified or OCal (weed that has been grown in standard that are comparable to organic).

 

 

Conclusion


If you are older or have pre-existing medical conditions, the best way to medicate with marijuana is by taking cannabis oil orally. It’s also extremely versatile, since it can be used to treat an array of conditions ranging from nausea to chronic pain, headaches, muscle pain, and so much more. While it may have reduced bioavailability compared to smoking, cannabis oil extracts do provide fairly quick relief for several conditions.

 

Smoking weed in any form, whether by flower, vape oil, or concentrates, should be avoided or limited altogether. There are also other potential consumption methods that are safer and more suitable for the immunocompromised, such as sprays, edibles, and topicals.

 

It also helps to carefully consider the type of cannabinoids you are consuming. For patients that need to medicate during the daytime, CBD or high-CBD products are always preferred. One must be careful with THC especially if you are older, operate machinery, or have no previous experience with psychoactive drugs. Always start with the lowest dose possible, and work your way to a higher dose slowly.

 

SAFEST WAY TO USE WEED, READ ON…

SAFEST WAY TO USE WEED

AMERICANS DON’T KNOW THE SAFEST WAYS TO USE WEED!



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MLK Day: Cannabis and Civil Rights

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It has become an annual MLK Day tradition here at Canna Law Blog to remind our readers that, first and foremost, cannabis is a civil rights issue. We’ve explained why herehere, here and here.

The past year ushered in some promising developments, from progress with the MORE Act, to state and local developments on social equity licensing measures, to increased expungement of criminal records related to cannabis convictions. Things are looking up for 2021 as well, federally and in many states.

But it’s not enough. Regulation of cannabis–and the composition, orientation and momentum of the industry at large–is nowhere where it needs to be on civil rights issues. Not even close.

Here at Harris Bricken, we are committed to honoring MLK’s legacy this year through our continued work with the Last Prisoner Project, through reduced fees for minority-owned cannabis businesses, and through review and promotion of robust state-level social equity legislation.

Although Dr. King died 53 years ago, his legacy continues to resonate and expand. On this day honoring one of our greatest leaders, it is important to remember all of the reasons we strive to end prohibition– including the most important ones.



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