The recent Omnibus Appropriations bill that was passed by Congress on December 16, 2015, funding the federal government through the 2016 fiscal year, included two marijuana provisions. The first prevents the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from spending money to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. The other measure prevents the DOJ and the DEA from spending money to interfere with the implementation of state industrial hemp research programs. In essence, this is the federal government granting permission to the states to enact and pass marijuana legislation however they see fit. Unless you have been living underground you can't help but be aware of the growing trend across the country that has seen Washington D.C., along with 20 states, decriminalize marijuana use, the most recent being Delaware whose law passed in June of last year and took effect on December 18, 2015. This is in addition to the 23 states that have legalized use for medical purposes and four for recreational.
Understandably this has been an issue in the 2016 presidential race and It would appear that even some of the more conservative Republican candidates who oppose recreational marijuana, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, would concede that there appears to be some medical use for marijuana, which is in direct contradiction of its Schedule 1 classification under the Controlled Substances Act. A Schedule 1 classification means the drug has no currently accepted medical use in the United States, has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and a high potential for abuse. Some other Schedule 1 drugs are LSD, Heroin, Bath Salts, Ecstasy and MDMA. Some Schedule 2 drugs are OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or most of the opiate pain pills on the market today.
What is most interesting is the latter Schedule 2 drugs are responsible for 44 deaths a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additionally, the CDC reports that in 2013 there were 43,982 drug overdose deaths with 22,767, or more than half related to opiate pain medication. This is more deaths from the Schedule 2 drugs than all the street drugs combined. The cost of prescription opioid abuse, per the CDC, in 2007 was about $55.7 billion. Of that amount 46 percent was attributed to workplace costs or lost productivity, 45 percent to healthcare costs or abuse of treatment and 9 percent to criminal justice costs. Despite this, these drugs that are used for the treatment of chronic pain are widely accepted and administered by medical professionals throughout the country. The reason for this is that they are federally legal and there is sufficient data on them so that doctors know how to prescribe them, thus protecting them legally (This is despite their high potential for abuse and patients not taking them as prescribed which leads to the horrific statistics above). While marijuana, a Schedule 1 drug, undeniably is not as lethal (if that is even an appropriate term), it is nearly impossible to get the permission to research for possible medical benefits.
What makes this information all more interesting is that there is a study done that suggest states that allow for medical marijuana have lower rates of opiate related deaths. Specifically, a report in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) discussing a study conducted from 1999 to 2010 that surveyed all 50 states over that period and found that in all states with medical cannabis laws they had a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate. It is thought that chronic pain sufferers are supplementing their opiates with marijuana and thus not overdosing as much. I think this provides food for thought. Even if you are an opponent of marijuana for recreational and medical use, this information would lead one to consider that we need to permit research on the drug to determine definitively if there are any medical benefits and likely that we need to consider stricter regulations on Schedule 2 opiates.
Disclaimer: The contents of this post are for informational purposes only, are not legal advice and do not create and attorney-client relationship.
For More information Contact John Kutner at Jkutner@wglaw.com or 973.854.1077.