Marijuana research that could potentially confirm cannabis’ medical benefits is allegedly being suppressed in order to profit the jail systems, which has increasingly become privatized over the last 33 years ever since the War on Drugs began under the Richard Nixon administration.
In a related report by The Inquisitr , while marijuana business opportunities may be booming in some states, unfortunately it seems that only the already rich can afford to get into the game at all. For example, Gary Johnson is an ex-libertarian candidate and he was recently announced as the CEO of a major marijuana company .
The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is named Nora Volkow, and she claims that marijuana legalization could be more dangerous than already legal tobacco and alcohol:
“Legal drugs are the main problem that we have in our country as it relates to morbidity and mortality. By far. Many more people die of tobacco than all of the drugs together. Many more people die of alcohol than all of the illicit drugs together. And it’s not because they are more dangerous or addictive. Not at all — they are less dangerous. It’s because they are legal… The legalization process generates a much greater exposure of people and hence of negative consequences that will emerge. And that’s why I always say, ‘Can we as a country afford to have a third legal drug? Can we?’ We know the costs already on health care, we know the costs on accidents, on lost productivity.”
Writing for Cannabis Digest , Dr. David B. Allen claims NIDA is colluding with the DEA and the FDA to control all potential marijuana research:
“They are not in the business of proving Marijuana has medical benefits and routinely deny applications of any studies which would show medical benefit. Only studies trying to prove harm are approved. Multiple millions of dollars have been spent trying to prove harmfulness of marijuana but to date, no government study has proven any significant problem. Truly the prohibition of scientific study of marijuana is the biggest conspiracy story of the century.”
Marijuana studies have been limited due to the federal government defining cannabis as a controlled substance. But supporters of marijuana legalization will rejoice when they hear that the DEA has asked the FDA to consider rescheduling marijuana from a schedule I drug. This would be the first step in allowing more marijuana research.
But Allen goes one step further by suggesting that the government is profiting from the War on Drugs:
“Many of them have financial motive not to understand. The suppression of the scientific study of Cannabis is proof of the ulterior motive of the Government. What is the ulterior motive? Follow the money. What money is generated by marijuana being illegal? Who profits from over 850,000 people being arrested each year for cannabis crimes?”
Even though the U.S. population accounts for five percent of the world, we also hold 25 percent of the world’s prison population, even beating out China by hundreds of thousands of inmates. It’s claimed the reason why the prison population has exploded is because of non-violent crimes related to illegal drugs. One study claims the reason so many are locked up is for profit:
“The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself.”
Working for almost nothing, the prison population produces many items for the U.S. military and “98 percent of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93 percent of paints and paintbrushes; 92 percent of stove assembly; 46 percent of body armor; 36 percent of home appliances; 30 percent of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21 percent of office furniture.” During the 1990s the profits generated from the prisons reached billions of dollars, and a list of U.S. companies benefiting from this trend supposedly includes “IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more.”
What do you think about the allegation that marijuana research is being held back in order for companies to profit from the jail system?