Neurodegenerative conditions are a significant cause of many fatalities all around the world. These conditions have no specific treatment plan, and sometimes, individuals survive by managing it. Managing a medical condition means living your life sheltered from the natural world. If you gain exposure to the world, you might end up feeling much worse than you initially were, which in some cases can be fatal.
Since cannabis studies are advancing
with time, people are increasingly looking for a way to provide people with
neurodegenerative conditions a sign of relief, if not a cure. Neurodegenerative
diseases often cause extensive periods in which one experiences chronic pain or
severe inflammation. CBD, according to many studies, can help provide you with
essential relief from pain and inflammation.
What is a neurodegenerative disease?
It is a medical condition that causes excessive deterioration in the health and immunity of the nerve cells. They create incurable conditions that further debilitate the health of an individual to unmanageable levels. Different types of dementia contribute the most to neurodegenerative diseases.
Some of the symptoms of
neurodegenerative diseases include:
Weak heart such that one needs life support to live.
Memory lapses and low cognition capabilities.
Increased chances of becoming paralyzed.
Muscle weakness and fatigue that profoundly impacts your
mobility levels.
Some of the conditions that arise as
a result of this condition include:
Parkinson’s’ disease- causes abnormal gait, continuous
rigidity, and tremors.
Alzheimer’s- affects the brain and leads to loss of memory
and other cognitive capabilities.
Multiple sclerosis- causes muscle lapse such that there is
no more strength preventing mobility.
Cancer- causes an overgrowth of specific body cells.
Prion disease- affects the brain and can result in brain
cell death, impairments, and changes in individual personalities, among others.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis- affects different nerves
located both in the brain and in the spinal cord. It is very disruptive, and
managing it is quite costly.
How can CBD help in such medical cases?
Can help fight immobility issues
Motor or mobility issues is a condition affecting many individuals. Among these are young children suffering from conditions such as dystonia and spasticity. Their motor skills are inferior and often surfer from posture abnormalities. A study conducted had these young children as participants, and the medical treatment administered for them included: 20:1 CBD to THC ratio and another 6:1 CBD to THC ratio.
The results of the study indicated
better cognitive capabilities after five months of education and evaluations
for children who have cerebral palsy. Better mood and social behavior improved
extensively with high alert levels and better movement. Also, it activates
different body receptors such as CB1 and CB2 receptors, which help fight and
prevent motor challenges.
Can help promote brain function
The brain is a sensitive organ that
requires proper attention to work efficiently. Neurodegenerative medical
conditions attack the brain preventing any form of brain cell regeneration and,
thus, the death of different nerve cells. Taking CBD in low dosages might help
fight brain injuries that may occur.
CBD contains a wide range of
terpenes. Hemp seeds contain high amounts of fatty acids, including omega group
of fatty acids. These promote brain growth and cell regeneration. Besides, they
build a protective barrier for the neurons by enhancing an individual’s body
health. Using the best sativa strains can help people with
neurodegenerative diseases manage related pain and symptoms.
Can help keep the muscles healthy
The autoimmune medical condition that affects the muscles is difficult to control. The muscle spasms’ individual experiences are not only painful but also very disturbing. One cannot have a proper rest because of fatigue. Once concentration dwindles, health status deteriorates gradually.
Cannabis can help in revamping an
individual’s energy levels. It promotes nerve cell regeneration and health,
reducing the rate at which muscle spasms occur. The cannabinoids present in
cannabis cause a relaxing and almost therapeutic environment that helps
patients drift to sleep. They awake refreshed, and the fatigue disappears.
Also, they become much friendlier, and the nutritional elements in the cannabis
promote immunity, and better health slowly starts to manifest over time. You
can even start with your cannabis cultivation to ensure a constant supply of
this magical herb. One can get supplies for a cannabis garden from a cannabis store or dispensary available around
them.
Interactions with the endocannabinoid system
The endogenous cannabinoid system
prevails in every cell and organ in the body. As a result, it is responsible
for many different functions that enable you to maintain a healthy balance.
However, neurodegenerative conditions attack the endocannabinoid system causing
an imbalance. This disrupts functions creating diseases such as weak metabolic
system, hormonal imbalances, low or high blood, and sugar levels, among others.
CBD can help mitigate the rate at
which the neurons in the body degenerate. The cannabinoids in CBD attach
themselves to the body’s endocannabinoid receptors in the body. The interaction
reduces the degeneration and helps in regulating the body functions, and
homeostasis becomes normal once again.
Cannabis can help fight inflammation
Some of the medical conditions,
including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, share some symptoms. These include
over-inflammation of the neurons in the body and especially the brain. They
cause low oxygen transportation to the brain and other parts of the body
resulting in further inflammation and energy depletion.
Cannabinoids promote different cell activities, including energy production. They increase the flow of blood, ensuring oxygen reaches designated areas or cells. The anti-oxidant capabilities help reduces the rate at which degeneration occurs by eliminating any toxic chemicals present in the body. Taking a dose of CBD rich cannabis oil can help maintain your body from any form of inflammation.
Conclusion
Neurodegenerative diseases are
common, especially among older people and very young children. Since most have
no possible medical cure, finding a proper way to manage them is crucial to the
lives of many. Therefore, the likely chances that CBD can help in reducing the
symptoms and effects of neurodegenerative conditions from spreading are a huge
breakthrough.
However, one has to make sure to
seek medical advice before administering cannabis-based solutions for your
medical conditions. It will prevent unforeseen challenges that may occur as a
result, which can either aggravate or help the situation, especially for
first-time users.
Neurodegenerative conditions are a significant cause of many fatalities all around the world. These conditions have no specific treatment plan, and sometimes, individuals survive by managing it. Managing a medical condition means living your life sheltered from the natural world. If you gain exposure to the world, you might end up feeling much worse than you initially were, which in some cases can be fatal.
Since cannabis studies are advancing
with time, people are increasingly looking for a way to provide people with
neurodegenerative conditions a sign of relief, if not a cure. Neurodegenerative
diseases often cause extensive periods in which one experiences chronic pain or
severe inflammation. CBD, according to many studies, can help provide you with
essential relief from pain and inflammation.
What is a neurodegenerative disease?
It is a medical condition that causes excessive deterioration in the health and immunity of the nerve cells. They create incurable conditions that further debilitate the health of an individual to unmanageable levels. Different types of dementia contribute the most to neurodegenerative diseases.
Some of the symptoms of
neurodegenerative diseases include:
Weak heart such that one needs life support to live.
Memory lapses and low cognition capabilities.
Increased chances of becoming paralyzed.
Muscle weakness and fatigue that profoundly impacts your
mobility levels.
Some of the conditions that arise as
a result of this condition include:
Parkinson’s’ disease- causes abnormal gait, continuous
rigidity, and tremors.
Alzheimer’s- affects the brain and leads to loss of memory
and other cognitive capabilities.
Multiple sclerosis- causes muscle lapse such that there is
no more strength preventing mobility.
Cancer- causes an overgrowth of specific body cells.
Prion disease- affects the brain and can result in brain
cell death, impairments, and changes in individual personalities, among others.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis- affects different nerves
located both in the brain and in the spinal cord. It is very disruptive, and
managing it is quite costly.
How can CBD help in such medical cases?
Can help fight immobility issues
Motor or mobility issues is a condition affecting many individuals. Among these are young children suffering from conditions such as dystonia and spasticity. Their motor skills are inferior and often surfer from posture abnormalities. A study conducted had these young children as participants, and the medical treatment administered for them included: 20:1 CBD to THC ratio and another 6:1 CBD to THC ratio.
The results of the study indicated
better cognitive capabilities after five months of education and evaluations
for children who have cerebral palsy. Better mood and social behavior improved
extensively with high alert levels and better movement. Also, it activates
different body receptors such as CB1 and CB2 receptors, which help fight and
prevent motor challenges.
Can help promote brain function
The brain is a sensitive organ that
requires proper attention to work efficiently. Neurodegenerative medical
conditions attack the brain preventing any form of brain cell regeneration and,
thus, the death of different nerve cells. Taking CBD in low dosages might help
fight brain injuries that may occur.
CBD contains a wide range of
terpenes. Hemp seeds contain high amounts of fatty acids, including omega group
of fatty acids. These promote brain growth and cell regeneration. Besides, they
build a protective barrier for the neurons by enhancing an individual’s body
health. Using the best sativa strains can help people with
neurodegenerative diseases manage related pain and symptoms.
Can help keep the muscles healthy
The autoimmune medical condition that affects the muscles is difficult to control. The muscle spasms’ individual experiences are not only painful but also very disturbing. One cannot have a proper rest because of fatigue. Once concentration dwindles, health status deteriorates gradually.
Cannabis can help in revamping an
individual’s energy levels. It promotes nerve cell regeneration and health,
reducing the rate at which muscle spasms occur. The cannabinoids present in
cannabis cause a relaxing and almost therapeutic environment that helps
patients drift to sleep. They awake refreshed, and the fatigue disappears.
Also, they become much friendlier, and the nutritional elements in the cannabis
promote immunity, and better health slowly starts to manifest over time. You
can even start with your cannabis cultivation to ensure a constant supply of
this magical herb. One can get supplies for a cannabis garden from a cannabis store or dispensary available around
them.
Interactions with the endocannabinoid system
The endogenous cannabinoid system
prevails in every cell and organ in the body. As a result, it is responsible
for many different functions that enable you to maintain a healthy balance.
However, neurodegenerative conditions attack the endocannabinoid system causing
an imbalance. This disrupts functions creating diseases such as weak metabolic
system, hormonal imbalances, low or high blood, and sugar levels, among others.
CBD can help mitigate the rate at
which the neurons in the body degenerate. The cannabinoids in CBD attach
themselves to the body’s endocannabinoid receptors in the body. The interaction
reduces the degeneration and helps in regulating the body functions, and
homeostasis becomes normal once again.
Cannabis can help fight inflammation
Some of the medical conditions,
including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, share some symptoms. These include
over-inflammation of the neurons in the body and especially the brain. They
cause low oxygen transportation to the brain and other parts of the body
resulting in further inflammation and energy depletion.
Cannabinoids promote different cell activities, including energy production. They increase the flow of blood, ensuring oxygen reaches designated areas or cells. The anti-oxidant capabilities help reduces the rate at which degeneration occurs by eliminating any toxic chemicals present in the body. Taking a dose of CBD rich cannabis oil can help maintain your body from any form of inflammation.
Conclusion
Neurodegenerative diseases are
common, especially among older people and very young children. Since most have
no possible medical cure, finding a proper way to manage them is crucial to the
lives of many. Therefore, the likely chances that CBD can help in reducing the
symptoms and effects of neurodegenerative conditions from spreading are a huge
breakthrough.
However, one has to make sure to
seek medical advice before administering cannabis-based solutions for your
medical conditions. It will prevent unforeseen challenges that may occur as a
result, which can either aggravate or help the situation, especially for
first-time users.
I was lucky enough to travel to Italy with my family when I was a child. When I got back and you asked me my favourite part, I would have said it was all of the gelato. Even now when I think back, I mostly remember standing in various lineups for gelato around Rome. Is that what my parents wanted me to take away from the trip? I’d assume no. Nevertheless, the impact was made. I was a lifelong gelato fan.
When I first heard of the Gelato strain a couple of years back, I was obviously excited to try it. When I found some, I was slightly disappointed. Sure it looked and smelled nice, but did it deserve the name Gelato? I’ve noticed that sometimes genetics from California make their way to BC quicker than they used to, however it takes a while for people to figure out how to get the most from the strain. I avoided Gelato for years after, despite my love for the frozen treat. A friend grew some last year and convinced me to try it. I was blown away. Growers have really mastered the Gelato genetics over the last few years in Canada and the bud is finally living up to its hype.
By crossing Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies with the delicious indica Sunset Sherbert, Cookie Fam has done it again with another stellar strain. Working off their GSC genetics; they’ve gone on to create some amazing flowers. Gelato stands out as one of the best and for good reason.
Taste
If you go in expecting sweet fruity terps, you actually won’t be disappointed! Almost like a raspberry gelato with a slight hint of spice. I always like to take a few drags of the joint before I light it to get a sense of the taste. When I did it tasted like a cold glass of cream soda.
The smell translates very well into the taste. Almost like a rhubarb pie or something similar. This is one of those dessert strains that you can really treat yourself after a big meal with.
Buds
Depending on the batch, Gelato can have glimmers of purple in its dark leaves. A fair amount of orange pistils contrast gorgeously with the varying shades of green. The buds are not too big or small. It can be quite sticky. One of those strains that stays on your fingers long after busting it up.
The buds can be remarkably dense. Like a rock almost. However, when you get past the tough exterior you’re met with moist and sticky flower on the inside.
A lot of members of the growing community are starting to pay attention to the size of trichome stalks. For the longest time, conventional wisdom said that more frost meant a higher amount of cannabinoids and terpenes. That said, people have learned that while longer stalks look more visually appealing, they actually carry fewer cannabinoids and terpenes. Short stalks, on the other hand, are rich in these compounds and oils. Farm House Genetic’s often share pictures of newly bred strains that look insanely frosty, yet they don’t consider the genetics worth keeping. You can learn a lot about trichome’s from them as they are one of the most informed on the topic.
Even just a year ago, this strain would have been highly valued, but Farmhouse Genetics realized that the longer stocks meant it had barely any taste or smell. As a result, they are getting rid of the genetics altogether.
As growers continue to breed new strains, this focus on shorter and therefore more terpene-rich strains will likely take the front seat as the visually appealing yet flavorless frosty strains fall behind. Obviously a lot of frost does not mean a bad strain. It’s a great indicator. It just should not be the sole basis of whether a strain is worth smoking. Some of my favourite strains have been ones that are less visually appealing but are full of terpenes and cannabinoids.
Experience
This one hits hard and fast. I smoked part of a joint to sample the strain as I always do. When I returned to start writing, I felt more stoned than usual. The high was strong and euphoric, but if you’re caught off guard it may be a bit much. When researching the genetics of this strain, I kept reading about other people who found the exact same thing. Some strains are creepers. This one is not. It makes its presence known immediately and sticks around for a while.
The smoke is very smooth, which is somewhat deceptive as it allows you to take a lot of smoke in without coughing. More smoke means a stronger high, which as I said can be quite strong, so be warned.
I definitely recommend this strain to anybody who values fruity terpenes and nice smooth smoke. Go slow though as Gelato can get even more seasoned users sweating and wondering if they maybe should have gone a bit slower.
“We will end the destructive war on drugs,” the 2020 Democratic candidate said at rally days before this week’s Iowa caucus. “On my first day in office through executive order we will legalize marijuana in every state in this country.”
But while the pledge has been largely welcomed by reform advocates and cannabis enthusiasts, some experts question whether such immediate, sweeping action is legally or practically achievable.
We must finally put an end to the disastrous, so-called "War on Drugs."
This includes legalizing marijuana, releasing those imprisoned because of it, expunging their records, and investing in the communities devastated by this decades-long assault.
The use of executive orders at the start of a presidency isn’t unprecedented — President Obama signed one aimed at shutting down the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison the day after he assumed office and President Trump issued an order scaling back Obamacare, for example — but there are unique challenges associated with a presidential move to unilaterally remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
To effectively end marijuana prohibition through the executive branch, according to a 2015 analysis from the Brookings Institution’s John Hudak, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or an outside party would have to file a petition, which would then be reviewed by the attorney general, who has usually delegated that responsibility to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The attorney general can also initiate the process on their own, requesting a scientific review directly to HHS. Under HHS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would then assess the scientific, medical and public health implications before submitting that review to the Justice Department.
“The recommendations of the Secretary to the Attorney General shall be binding on the Attorney General as to such scientific and medical matters, and if the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled, the Attorney General shall not control the drug or other substance,” the CSA states. “If the Attorney General determines that these facts and all other relevant data constitute substantial evidence of potential for abuse such as to warrant control or substantial evidence that the drug or other substance should be removed entirely from the schedules, he shall initiate proceedings for control or removal.”
Thus, changing marijuana’s classification under federal law without an act of Congress is far more complicated than a single stroke of a presidential pen. While Sanders could theoretically make supporting descheduling a condition of nominating candidates to be HHS secretary or attorney general, it’s virtually certain he would not have those officials installed on day one of his presidency.
The new day-one, executive action proposal is a far more ambitious plan than the one Sanders previously floated. Last year, the senator said he’d take a systematic approach to legalization that would involve naming cabinet members who will “work to aggressively end the drug war and legalize marijuana” within 100 days of his taking office.
But it appears the timetable has changed, with top aides reportedly including marijuana legalization in a list of possible executive orders — though Sanders has yet to formally sign off on them. Some experts are skeptical that this latest plan has legs, and some feel it reflects Sanders’s political desire to stand out as the most marijuana friendly candidate, rather than an earnest attempt to expedite the descheduling process.
Here are some of the issues they identified:
A president can’t change state marijuana laws
Federal descheduling wouldn’t directly repeal any state laws prohibiting marijuana, and so the prospect of swift legalization across 50 states is questionable.
“The question first is, would states be compelled to do this? That is, does the president have the power to do this? That’s the first step,” Hudak told Marijuana Moment. “The second step actually raises a more important question, and that is: can states continue to maintain a different schedule for a substance than a federal schedule? There’s plenty of evidence that a state could do that.”
While some state drug scheduling systems are tied to the federal system, it’s still the case that “the state has an opportunity to do something different, but it has to proactively do something different.”
“Does the president have the power to do this?”
John Hudak, Brookings Institution
“I think we typically don’t have situations in which the federal government is more lax and a state wants to be stricter on it, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that that would be something federal courts would allow states to do,” Hudak said.
What’s more, even if state-level prohibitions did end as a result of CSA descheduling, it would be without precedent for the federal government to dictate that they implement a regulated, commercial marijuana market. Instead, a situation could hypothetically emerge where cannabis would be legal, but there would be limited means of access, as is currently the case in Washington, D.C., where Congress has prohibited the district from using its local tax dollars to create a regulated system of sales.
“A president certainly cannot force that to be allowed in states by any kind of executive action,” he said. “It would really require an act of Congress to set up a commercial regulatory system nationwide, which, even then, you are on very shaky constitutional grounds to do that kind of thing.”
It’s also possible that Sanders could leverage federal funds to pressure states into adopting the policy change, requiring them to end cannabis prohibition as a condition of receiving certain dollars. That’s how Congress achieved setting a national drinking age minimum of 21, for example, by threatening to withhold 10 percent of federal highway construction funds if states didn’t comply.
The question of how to compel states to end their own cannabis criminalization laws aside, there are major hurdles to changing marijuana’s status under federal law by a president in the first place.
An Executive Order can’t get around regulatory requirements
“There are procedures that have to be followed to remove it,” Sam Kamin, a law professor at the University of Denver, told Marijuana Moment. “It might not take months or years, but it certainly won’t be the first afternoon of the Sanders presidency.”
Hudak agreed:
“An executive order is not a means by which a president can do this. Presidents need to draw on statutory authority or constitutional authority in order to use an executive order to make some sort of policy change. The president is explicitly restricted by the Controlled Substances Act from doing this through a non-regulatory process, and the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that Congress’s policy choices in the CSA are constitutional and within their power. It does not grant constitutional authority to the president in any of those rulings. No, President Sanders or President Anyone cannot do this by executive order.”
International drug treaties could complicate things
And then there’s the question of international law. Opponents of ending prohibition often point to global drug treaties to which the U.S. is a party that technically requires member nations to keep marijuana illegal.
A Sanders administration could hypothetically withdraw the U.S. from the treaties, as past presidents have done to advance policies that run counter to international agreements. President Bush withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty in 2001, for example, and while it was challenged in a lawsuit, a federal district court dismissed the case, setting a precedent.
A 2016 legal brief from the Congressional Research Service discussed the ambiguity of withdrawal procedures for Senate-approved treaties like the Single Convention on drugs. While the Senate is empowered to “advise and consent” in the drafting of treaties, the statute is “silent with respect the power to withdraw from them.” There have been past instances where “the President has unilaterally terminated treaties without any form of legislative approval,” but in other cases, Congress has either given advance authorization or approved a withdrawal after the fact.
All that said, there’s a more simple workaround to the treaty problem: Sanders could just ignore it altogether, as Canada and Uruguay have when they legalized marijuana nationwide. Because treaty obligations are sometimes flouted by the U.S. and other countries when they’re inconvenient and because they often lack enforcement capabilities, experts who spoke to Marijuana Moment broadly dismissed the notion that a Sanders presidency would be inhibited by international bodies like the United Nations (UN).
“The Single Convention has absolutely no impact on President Sanders’s or any president’s ability to do this — or Congress’s for that matter,” Hudak said. “Under that obligation, yes, the federal government is not supposed to do this. But also there’s really no enforcement mechanism in international organizations to do anything about it, and what we’ve seen is international organizations have not done anything about it. If the UN is not going to punish Uruguay, I don’t think they’re going to punish the United States.”
Sanders’s campaign won’t explain its plan
It’s possible that Sanders’s team could take some proactive steps to work around all of these statutory rules, including the treaty obligations. For example, it could work with incoming personnel for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) during the transition between the election and inauguration day to draft a memo stipulating that the executive order can stand, and so when it’s issued on day one, the administration could point to that document and justify the action. It’s still possible that a court could later challenge the legal reasoning, however.
Marijuana Moment reached out several times to Sanders aides for specifics on exactly how the candidate plans to “legalize marijuana in every state in this country” via executive order on his first day in office, but they did not respond by the time of publication.
Warren Gunnels, a senior adviser on the senator’s campaign, wrote in a Twitter post on Sunday that not only would cannabis be legalized on day one, but the executive order would be signed at 4:20 PM, referencing the unofficial marijuana holiday 4/20 that is rumored to have been inspired by a group of high school students who met at that designated time to smoke in the early 1970s.
“On my 1st day in office through executive order we'll legalize marijuana in every state in this country. We'll move forward to expunge the records of those arrested for possession of marijuana," Bernie Sanders
Even if unfeasible, Sanders’s pledge has political value
Despite these obstacles, some legalization advocates view Sanders’s promise as a politically important, if symbolic, proposal.
“There are open questions about if and how a president could technically deschedule, as opposed to reschedule, marijuana on Day 1 via a simple executive order,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “There is and will be much debate about the technicalities, but what is truly important about this recent pledge is that for the first time in political history we have a front-runner for a major party nomination treating marijuana policy as a top-tier issue.”
“With around 68% of all Americans supporting legalization, committing to quickly bring prohibition to an end upon entering office is good policy and good politics,” he said. “We greatly appreciate Sanders’s strong support for marijuana legalization and would hope all current candidates join us on the right side of history by making similar pledges.”
“Executive order or not, if we had a president who elevated marijuana policy and backed it using the bully pulpit in this way, it would undoubtedly apply even further pressure for Congress to take action on important pending legislation such as the MORE Act,” he said, referring to a bill to deschedule cannabis and promote social equity that was approved by the House Judiciary Committee last year.
Others aren’t so bullish on Sanders’s decision to pitch an expedited legalization agenda, arguing that it’s practically ambitious at best and politically dangerous at worst.
“I think frankly it’s political pandering,” Hudak said. “The Sanders [original 100-day plan] is a very effective administrative strategy to make sure that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. To step away from that and effectively do a liberal version of President Trump’s behavior — and that is, ‘let me do this via executive order and be damned what the Constitution or statute say’ — is not something a lot of Democrats really have an appetite for right now.”
“I think, what’s worse, even if in a scenario where this were somehow upheld by an increasingly conservative federal judiciary, what is then-President Sanders doing? He’s setting up a system in which four or eight years later, a Republican president can come in and undo with the stroke of a pen,” he said. “I don’t think any cannabis reformer wants cannabis policy to be set in a way that drastically can change from presidency to presidency.”
“I understand the senator’s frustration that Congress hasn’t acted on this, but there are a lot of unintended consequences that come with unilateral action when that unilateral action is not thought through statutorily, constitutionally or in terms of just basic policy impact,” he added.
Kamin, the law professor in Denver, said that Sanders’s proposal “is not one that comports with the separation of powers and federalism.”
“Whether you call that symbolic or whether you call that metaphorical or whether you call that puffery, what Sanders is signaling is, ‘I want to be the federal legalization candidate.’ The race was once crowded with senators who had legalization plans. [Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)] is probably the principle person left in the race who has proposed legalization at the federal level. What I see there is Senator Sanders trying to claim that issue for himself.”
Steve Fox, president of VS Strategies, the public affairs consulting arm of the Vicente Sederberg LLP law firm, told Marijuana Moment that even if Sanders successfully moved to reclassify marijuana under federal law, it wouldn’t mean that the penalties against it would be automatically erased from the law books.
“I certainly appreciate the sentiment behind Senator Sanders’s pledge, but I believe he would not be able to go as far as he suggests through an executive order,” he said.
“I think rescheduling would be possible, given that a DEA administrative law judge recommended rescheduling in 1988 and that recommendation was never followed. But marijuana’s penalties under federal law are not connected to its scheduling,” Fox said. “The law provides specific penalties based on the amount of marijuana one possesses. As far as I understand, an executive order cannot be used to simply eliminate crimes from the U.S. Code that a president doesn’t like.”
“If marijuana is going to be legal at the federal level, it will take an act of Congress,” he said.
Douglas Berman, a professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and author of the Sentencing Law & Policy blog, falls somewhere in the middle on the question of Sanders’s ability to actually achieve unilateral descheduling versus the political implications of simply pledging to do so.
“In many respects to me, this a version of ‘build a wall and have Mexico pay for it,’” Berman told Marijuana Moment, referring to an unfulfilled Trump campaign promise. “Nobody actually thinks we’re going to get Mexico to pay for it, but when you articulate it in these terms, you’re sending a signal that this is not just something that you’re committed to—but committed to with every fiber that you can muster.”
“I think, yes, that’s just politics, but it’s politics that has really important policy consequences if you were the standard-bearer for the Democratic party and ultimately president,” he said. “That’s why supporters of reform should be excited to hear, even if they know, ‘yeah, he can’t really get this done’” as proposed.
Featured image from Shutterstock
This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.
