The Veteran Affairs Federal Policy and Drug War on Blacks
The federal government is moving slowly but surely to ending marijuana prohibition. There are many bills out there to address this issue, from allowing States to decide their own marijuana policies to an all out end to prohibition at federal level. Already the FEDS have decided unofficially to not enforce the laws on the books, by allowing States to have medical marijuana polices to even allowing States like Colorado and Washington to allow recreational marijuana sales. But the FEDS still haven’t gotten a bill passed the Senate to make this a written law of the land.
This effects veterans and creates a healthcare dilemma. While the VA is now allowing veterans to smoke marijuana in States that allow it and still get their pain medication. This is a new policy recently put on the books and the VA hospital is a Federal Medical System. So again the FEDS are coming closer to making a policy to end prohibition. However the VA policy falls short of allowing their doctors to write a marijuana prescription. Therefore, if a veteran cannot afford to see an outside doctor, he/she cannot be prescribed this medication, which is in a way is discrimination against poor patients. Because if the VA recognizes the medical benefits of marijuana, but only allows patients who can afford to get a prescription from outside doctors, it is really not fair to the many veterans who cannot afford to see a doctor on the outside.
I could somewhat understand if the VA decides not dispense the medication at this time due to federal laws, if they think they can give you something else that will give you similar benefits, but to not write a prescription is discrimination against poor patients.
Actually it is a hypocrisy within the federal government, because Donabinol is an FDA approved drug, which is allowed for cancer and AIDS patients. Donabinol is THC in pill form which is an active ingredient in cannabis, it is what gets you high. But it is used to prevent vomiting, nausea and to increase the appetite of these patients. But it is clear that THC has many other benefits to users and for this reason the VA is allowing users to continue to get pain medication from their dispensary while using marijuana.
What I do not understand however is how can the federal government allows a medication such as Donabinol to be prescribed, which is THC, but regulate or limit who can use it based on a false hypostasis. The problem seems to stem from the lie that marijuana is a schedule one substance by the DEA, up there with heroin, whereby cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone (OxyContin) are schedule two drugs. Therefore Donabinol is a highly controlled medication and it uses are therefore highly controlled. But it is OK to give you codeine an opiate for the flu, vicodin an opiate for a tooth ache, oxycodone for daily pain, but marijuana is too dangerous to prescribe. Get real! Yet Donabinol is already FDA approved.
I realized it is just a matter of time before this is all resolved. And I think is also about time for the federal government to come clean about the whole drug war. Because they really have no strategy whatsoever to ending it. How can you bust the biggest drug dealer in the world and say nothing changes? It seems that the only people being effected by the fake drug war are poor blacks by the millions. On February 22nd when they busted Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and then said nothing is going to change, I was no longer proud to be an American. Because I realized they were always just lying to us about a war on drugs. It is just a war on black people to keep us repressed in the black community and to disenfranchise us.
I do not even think I can justly be against drugs or street dealers in my community anymore. Because the government has no intentions of ever stopping this drug epidemic. Without a strategy to ever stop it, the only real solution is to legalize all drugs and like Amsterdam address it as a health matter and not a crime. I really do not understand this fake war anymore. We are being told it is a crime to want to be sedated and for people to supply this demand. But never addressing why people want to feel high in the first place. Whereby 1% of the population controls half the wealth in this country, this land is filed with hopelessness.
The bible teaches you that alcohol and drug abuse will keep you poor. So with the disparity of wealth in this country, I do not understand the problem they have with people being drug addicts. Because they do not intend for us having anything anyway. I cannot in good conscience by against drugs anymore. Because to be against drugs is only being for black people going to prison. That is the only intent of this fake drug war, it is war against black people.
Frank Paul Jones