NIDA Seeks Public Input for Our 2021-2025 Strategic Plan

I would like to see the opposition to marijuana legalization relaxed. Admittedly marijuana can adversely affect some people, but the overall benefit to risk ratio is in favor of legalization. The anti-marijuana laws dating back to the 1930s had a racist intent. You may know that William Randolph Hearst the champion of yellow journalism, renamed cannabis marijuana to associate it with Mexicans. Nixon's war on drugs in the early 70's was more of the same. Unless you want to prohibit alcohol again, because it is more dangerous than marijuana, then please get off your high horse and help people make it through their lives with much needed relief from marijuana.

there must be a different approach the NIDA must take to curb drug addiction. Criminalizing addictive drugs may not be the best solution as it leads to a black market environment, organized crime, more potent drugs, a loss of revenue, political corruption, a lack of public understanding of drugs, etc. Ex: the failure of D.A.R.E., the Opium Wars, The 21st century opium trade routes, the development of new drugs after WWI. Yes, all of these events have specific circumstances, but a common element is failed policies to stem a drug considered too horrible by a national government. NIDA should seriously consider advocating politicians to reconsider how we classify drugs.

In the work I do, I see marijuana negatively impact young people in their ability to stay in school and cope with normal day to day anxiety. I think we need more research in this area. While I am certain cannabis has medicinal qualities for some disorders, I am highly skeptical that it improves anxiety in any substantial way and in fact, may cause mental health problems. Right now, young people consider it "medicine" for any problem. I think we need to be more clear and specific in this area as I see it destroying many young people who use it daily - especially in concentrated forms. I just think we need more information since this seems to be a wide spread misunderstanding.

To protect its own credibility, NIDA should not stand in the way of legalizing cannabis, especially medical cannabis.

And funding should go to research intended to confirm potential benefits of cannabis as well as research aimed at finding harm.

To put it bluntly, the government has lied about cannabis for decades and you have played a significant role in this deception. This is shameful for a medical organization.

As Sanjay Gupta, M.D., acknowledged: “I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have “no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.” They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works. We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.”

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has a consistent record of funding and promoting biased research that portrays cannabis in a negative light, despite numerous large-scale and controlled studies showing the contrary. The LaGuardia Committee and the American Medical Association both denounced cannabis criminalization, citing that it does not lead to addiction nor is it a gateway drug. On the contrary, recent studies show the ability of cannabis to help individuals reduce or cease use of opioids, sleep medications, tobacco, and other street drugs such as cocaine. NIDA's insistent efforts to fund research on Cannabis Use Disorder is based on a fallible, correlation-based theory about the motivation behind cannabis use and is against the best interests of a population struggling with an opioid epidemic.

Science and widespread experience have shown marijuana is not addictive and is far less harmful than alcohol. - Yet, more than 600,000 innocent Americans are arrested for simple marijuana possession each year and made second-class citizens - for life!

They will forever face large obstacles to decent employment, education, travel, housing, government benefits, and will always go into court with one strike against them. They can even have their children taken away!

25 million Americans are now locked away in this very un-American sub-class because of this bogus "criminal" record. That has a horrible effect on the whole country, being a massive waste of human potential.

The fraudulent marijuana prohibition has never accomplished one positive thing. It has only caused vast amounts of crime, corruption, violence, death and the severe diminishing of everyone's freedom.

There is no more important domestic issue than ending what is essentially the American Inquisition.

Soy ex- consumidor, 58 años, terminando de estudiar , Tecnico en rehabilitacion de adicciones, en Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Vivo en Chile, Y deseo compartir experiencia vivida.
Saludos Sebastian Braniff

Each individual has a different tolerance to pain medication. Roux En Gastric Bypass patients can't have any kind of NSAIDs. Tylenol products only 4000 mg a day is not enough for a Failed Total knee replacement. Each person might need tested in medication that will work instead of wasting the doctor & patients time & insurance money. No one should have to suffer any kind of pain!

Drugs are not illegal because they are dangerous they are dangerous due to the lack of regulation (like drinking what you think is a pint of lager, turns out it's really moonshine) Carnage! Crime generates money, legalizing drugs would vastly cut crime and greatly reduce profit for the greedy at the top. Its high time somebody took responsibility we should be using our get it sorted.. the law against drugs is ludicrous its immoral and bullying

I am a teacher by background. The brains of our youth are the most precious natural resource we as a nation have. I now add - TO PROTECT.

Countless studies show that prevention gets a very minor slice of the drug addiction expenditure finances.

How about funding a study that shows the effects of requiring all teachers, after school programs, school personnel, school administrators, school sports coaches, school PTO groups, school boards, and community organizations working with youth to have a well orchestrated program showing the harms of high potency marijuana, frequent marijuana use, and the gateway drug effect to meth, opioids, even alcohol with and awareness of programs like Iceland's and really see if this approach doesn't make an impact on all of the other reduction plans you fund.

Be sure to include preganant mothers and preschools, headstart, and daycare providers.

Martha Hafner
Vermont

PS I am 30+ years a teacher and I do have some resources that could serve as a boiler plate.

Due to the overwhelming scientific research that supports the conclusion that the use of marijuana in pregnancy poses significant risks to the offspring as well as mothers to be there should be a moratorium on federal funding of any research or study that involves recruiting women who are using THC/CBD in pregnancy for any reason. The Surgeon General has issued statements about the evidence of harm from prenatal use of this drug and therefore no women should be enrolled in any research that seeks to study the results of the impact of use on maternal health or offspring and no research should be granted federal funds that can be used in any way to support the erroneous argument that we do not know the result of marijuana use in pregnancy as the evidence is now conclusive enough to continue to warn all women not to use CBD or THC when planning or starting a family.
This moratorium on any studies designed to recruit pregnant women who use marijuana is further supported by the Helsinki Declaration and The Belmont Report and the articles that govern research on human subjects. The research in animal studies does not show safety and therefore prenatal marijuana studies breach international human rights legislation.

Unresolved early trauma needs to be addressed. Extended care is crucial and motivational enhancement is vital to client engagement for at least 18 months. And we recognize that most clients abuse multiple agents.
Rich

The "Treatment" for this disease CAN'T be the same 12 steps one guy thought of in the 1930's.... That is not treatment, it's insanity.....

And it's also a big problem that the 10% of people it does work for, spend their life convincing vulnerable people that it is an answer..... It's wreckless, it's dangerous, and it's accepted for some reason....