Ex. Congressman Patrick Kennedy anti-marijuana stance shows he is truly a puppet of big pharma

To open this argument I just want to say I do not consume any form of marijuana. I actually am drug tested regularly because of the line of work I am in.

So Kennedy has come out of late advocating against decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Going as far as to say " the public doesn't stand a chance" when it comes to legal marijuana and that his concerns are for " the children".

What he doesn't want you to know is that his advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is just an off shoot of the much larger and much more well funded Community Anti-Drug Coalition (CADC) and Partnership for Drug-free Kids (PDFK).

Who Are the major funding entities you ask? Well of course all the usual suspects :
Pfizer
Perdue pharmaceutical
Abbott laboratories
Janssen pharmaceutical

Funding also comes from larger privately managed prison contractors as well as numerous entities that have skin in the game like law enforcement and addiction treatment facility management and other ancillary busniness that is funded by the war on drugs

It doesn't stop there . It seems that Kennedy and Newt Gingrich have teamed up to be new spokespeople for a new advocacy group called 'Advocates For Opioid Recovery' . You would think a non profit organization like this would be doing Gods work in the form of better regulation of opioid prescriptions, alternative treatments etc.

Nope!

There stance is for " dedicated to advancing a science-based, evidence-based treatment system that can reduce death and suffering from opioid addiction, and produce more long-term opioid addiction survivors who are positively engaged in their families and communities."

In short they want you to use opioids more, for longer periods of time and prescribe additional drugs that make that possible.

Now funding support was not disclosed but after some investigation it show that Braeburn Pharmaceuticals is the major funding entity. Which " The private company, based in Princeton, N.J., won approval last year to market an implant that continuously dispenses the opioid addiction medicine buprenorphine".

Now Kennedy has declined interviews in regards to his association to the group (even though he a spokesman?) and when Gingrich was asked about who was funding this "non-profit" group Newt stated he didn't know.


So a Kennedy is up to Old Kennedy tricks and he is playing on this own addiction issues of his past to act as an "expert" that knows what is good for the public when all along it's just a money grab. He cares nothing for drug use, abuse, treatment of human beings . Just that he gets his cut.

www.thenation.com...

www.statnews.com...

www.opioidrecovery.org...

It used to be legal ... and no one lost their minds.

Give someone some measure of control ... and they're the ones who inevitably _lose_ control.

I fully support the medical use of marijuana, don't use it myself but it's better than opiates
The US can't afford to lose the money big pharma makes
Marijuana is history or controlled by the drug companies, done deal

Of course big gubment and Co. wants to enslave us. To money, 'success', cigarettes, alcohol, stuff, and drugs even.

Just look at history, the British Empire addicted countless Chinese to Opium, generated untold misery, death and a war.

Oh and a ton of money...

Legalizing weed would mean that big pharma can begin to sell it and sell their own strains.

Why would big pharma be against the idea of making money, OP?

a reply to: Kuroodo

It's really hard to paten a plant

a reply to: Kuroodo

I bet you that big pharma would try to GMO their strains to "control" what types of terpenes a person gets. Some would say that is a good thing. I think in my opinion it would be a very bad thing. Whenever the corporations and big pharma get involved, there are always the well-known medical "side effects" including DEATH lots of times. If the big corps get control of cannabis, I'm sure that it will have little to no true "medical benefits". Happens to almost everything they get their hands on...

Marijuana is not some miracle cure that will put drug companies out of business.

Pfizer makes loads from viagra, will weed change that? No

Will it replace antibiotics?
How about alergy medications?
The list goes on.

originally posted by: Kuroodo
Legalizing weed would mean that big pharma can begin to sell it and sell their own strains.

Why would big pharma be against the idea of making money, OP?

Why would big pharmaceutical want/allow one to grow a plant themselves in their own back yard that helps with their back pain when big pharmaceutical can "treat," the condition over 12 months with fifteen different medications that aren't covered by insurance?

You tube Vid because I can never embed for some reasona reply to: Paddyofurniture

America and the West in general has had an irrational fear of inanimate objects for quite a long period of time. It is nothing but superstition. Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001 I believe. Why don't we hear about this in America? Because it was successful. It is not just big pharma that has money and control to lose. Do you know how many billions we spend on the DEA, the FBI, state and local police, to enforce drug laws? Me neither, but I bet it's a lot.

A certain percentage of people have addictive personalities. These people are going to be addicted despite the law. We need to treat drug addiction as a health problem and not a criminal problem.

originally posted by: RomeByFire

originally posted by: Kuroodo
Legalizing weed would mean that big pharma can begin to sell it and sell their own strains.

Why would big pharma be against the idea of making money, OP?

Why would big pharmaceutical want/allow one to grow a plant themselves in their own back yard that helps with their back pain when big pharmaceutical can "treat," the condition over 12 months with fifteen different medications that aren't covered by insurance?

Because they can just create less efficient strains of the plant/drug and sell it as the best medical drug/plant to ever exist

a reply to: Kuroodo

Because it competes with their established drugs controlled with patents. They will get in line and play their part if passed.

Same reason they often fabricate clinical drug trials,....money.

Just as I said in the OP public sector prison management firms, local/state/fed LEOs as well as fed financed treatment facilities to name a few have their hand out too .

The stance they and that dope Kennedy take ultimately go back to the same thing that they "are protecting the children and their future"

Which is BS because no data has shown forced abstinence ( war on drugs) to be a true deterrent to drug addiction or illegal drug flow to black market sales.

Ultimately these "coalitions" are a front to maintain the war on drugs and a system that is broken.

Decriminalize and tax the $h/! Out of it. It's already proven to work

a reply to: TobyFlenderson

originally posted by: markovian
a reply to: Kuroodo

It's really hard to paten a plant

Tell that to Monsanto

a reply to: Kuroodo


When 'BigPHarma™' gets 'in' is when I get out... I could envision them screwing w/the natural plant by adding some poisons...

But then again, I'm still waiting on the big boobs I was supposed to sprout from using Cannabis in the mid 70's and I didn't turn out 'sterile' either...

Kennedy, any relation to the Kennedy that was drunk driving and killed the Lady? If "Yes" then this Kennedy is related to crooked ass Joe Kennedy the bootlegger...

If We listen to this TURD re: Cannabis (marijuana or 'marihuana' is a Government issued word..) We should listen to John McCain as it relates to War stuff w/DICK Cheney sitting 2nd chair...

Proud Member of LEAP• Law Enforcement Action Partnership nee: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition .

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Marijuana is not some miracle cure that will put drug companies out of business.

Pfizer makes loads from viagra, will weed change that? No

Will it replace antibiotics?
How about alergy medications?
The list goes on.

Maybe not miraculous, but certainly impressive- 700 medicinal uses
You have a point about cannabis not being a cure all and not replacing many existing medicines. I think the number of ailments and afflictions cannabis offers relief to does stand to ruffle the feathers of pharma because many people would elect to use a plant they can grow themselves or have cheap access too, for so many issues.
PTSD, PMS, arthritis, Inflammation, seizures, brain injuries,Parkinson's, MS and the list goes on. Cannabis, while not to be claimed as cure, it does offer an alternative to expensive and addictive pharma meds prescribed for management of many of these ailments.

Additionally, if cannabis did not have such value in field of medicine, why are so many pharma cos. designing synthetic versions and selling(very successfully) stock in their co's? So I feel that some in the Pharma industry are threatened, circumstantially, by standing to lose consumers who have viable alternatives now for so many afflictions. I guess I cling to middle ground between the fringe ideas of cannabis is a miracle and it is not significant enough to threaten pharma industry.

a reply to: waftist


Here is another "Old Cop" using Cannabis as a medicine.. (see: Endo-Cannabinoid System)

www.youtube.com...

namaste

a reply to: JimNasium

Same family of crooks. The best of them were murdered in the 60's and they were no saints either.

a reply to: Paddyofurniture

This coming from a boy (no, he is a man by age, but he's a spoiled 'chosen one' child) who was found guilty of driving under the influence in 2006...under the influence of opiods -- you know, those drugs that have resulted in more OD deaths than any drug epidemic in this country's long history of drug abuse.

What a hypocrite! What a waste of precious oxygen.

Patrick Kennedy -- Opiate Junkie

Yes,
It's Ted Kennedy's kid.

a reply to: JimNasium