Peter McWilliams Explains How the Czar
"gave pot smokers legal carte blanche to fail every urine test they take."

December 1999 Issue
From Playboy Magazine
(Marijuananews note: Playboy was one of the original backers of NORML in the 1970s and has been consistently critical of marijuana prohibition over the years.)
edit@playboy.com
http://www.playboy.com/
By Peter McWilliams

THE GENERAL'S LOOPHOLE
Drug Czar Cripples Reefer Tests

In his most recent round of unintended self-immolation, drug czar Barry McCaffrey effectively nullified drug testing for marijuana users nationwide. In a move that he hoped would bring the medical marijuana movement to its knees, the retired general instead gave pot smokers legal carte blanche to fail every urine test they take.

Here's how it happened: This past July, the Drug Enforcement Administration, with a nod from the Food and Drug Administration, reclassified the prescription drug Marinol, which is synthetic THC, the most psycho-active of marijuana's many cannabinoids. Marinol was moved from Schedule II, the most restrictive category of drugs available by prescription, to Schedule III. The change makes it much easier for doctors to distribute the drug. Notably, they now can phone or fax prescriptions to pharmacies and provide for as many as five automatic refills every six months. They also won't have the DEA looking over their shoulder each time they write a Marinol prescription.
See
Two Days After The Medical Marijuana Initiatives
The DEA Proposes Making Marinol A Schedule III Drug!! "Like Codeine With Tylenol."
More Like Cynicism With Desperation
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, used the reclassification to again attack the idea of marijuana as medicine, calling Marinol the only "safe and proper way" to make THC available to the public. "This action will make Marinol, which is scientifically proven to be safe and effective for medical use, more widely available," McCaffrey said, implying that marijuana itself is not safe or effective, despite much evidence to the contrary.
See
NORML Special Bulletin -- IOM Acknowledges:
"There is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions
that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."
But Still Opposes Smoked Marijuana --
and
Gettman Petition For Hearings On Marinol Rescheduling Uses DEA’s Own Arguments Against It.
Why Marinol Is Not Medical Marijuana. Wonderfully Brilliant!
The government's message is clear: Now that "safe and proper" Marinol is more readily available, we don't need to legalize unsafe and improper marijuana for medical use. This plan worked once before, which seems to have given McCaffrey some confidence it will work again. In the mid- Eighties, when marijuana was on the verge of being reclassified so it could be legally prescribed, the federal government funded the development of Marinol and pushed it through the FDA approval process. It then used the availability of synthetic THC as a pretext for refusing to remove marijuana from the same forbidden Schedule I classification it shares with heroin and other narcotics.

So while they have the same active ingredient, marijuana remains forbidden while Marinol moves into the polite society of Tylenol with codeine. How easy is it to get a prescription for Marinol? Very easy. Doctors are permitted to provide any prescription drug for "off-label" use. That is, if a doctor determines that a prescription drug labeled by the manufacturer to treat, say, nausea, would also be effective for treating pain, the doctor can prescribe it for pain.
(Marijuananews note: Several readers have advised me that in some states Mariinol remains on Schedule II. Of course, it is also very expensive, even more so than illegal marijuana. Of course, if you only take it before urine tests…)
See
A Medical Marijuana User Says That "Marinol Rescheduling Is Worthless" For Him.
He Simply Cannot Afford It. "My country is killing me."
This is going to happen with more frequency. A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, which McCaffrey praises as "the most comprehensive summary and analysis of what is known about the medical use of marijuana," concluded that THC could be useful not only to stimulate appetite in AIDS patients and prevent the nausea that's caused by cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, but also to relieve chronic pain. (The full report, Marijuana and Medicine, is available online at books.nap.edu.)
See
Executive Summary Of The IOM Report, Marijuana And Medicine: Assessing The Science Base
The potential for Marinol to treat chronic pain is enormous. Experts estimate at least 75 million Americans suffer from chronic, debilitating pain. This includes pain caused by cancer, arthritis, migraine headaches and severe back injuries.

Seventy-five million! That means nearly half the adult population of the U.S. is properly and legally entitled to Marinol and, by extension, free from the burden of passing clean urine. There is no legally recognized test that distinguishes between the synthetic THC of Marinol and the natural THC of marijuana.
See
Federal Judge In McCormick Case Says
There No Way To Distinguish Between Marinol and Marijuana In Urine Tests.
McCormick To Remain Free On Half Million Dollar Bail.