Big Pharma is known for putting profit before people’s health. Anonymous, for instance, pointed out that Big Pharma doesn’t want the general population to be aware of alternative treatments to curing cancer outside of chemotherapy.
Now Big Pharma has its sites on crushing a major offender of their brand’s attitude: marijuana.
In 2016, supporters of an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona were met with much resistance from a pharmaceutical giant, Insys Therapeutics, who chose to donate $500,000 to the opponents of Proposition 205.
Though a spokesperson for Insys insisted their opposition was because the drug “fails to protect the safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children,”the truth eventually came out, with it was recently revealed that the company simply didn’t want to face competition.
The suspicions were confirmed when Insys received approval from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to produce its own synthetic marijuana. The company claims the new medication is meant to treat nausea in patients suffering from cancer and AIDS. Natural cannabis has been shown to provide such treatments as well, yet without the hefty cost.
Even more frustrating is that, while natural cannabis remains Schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act, the DEA has listed Syndros — the name of the new synthetic drug — as Schedule II.
The approval has generated anger among cannabis activists, who believe that Insys is simply aiding in the prevention of the type of treatment now on track to hi the market.
Insys even wrote a letter to the DEA several years ago to pave its path toward conquering marijuana as medicine by requesting to keep marijuana criminalized because of “the abuse potential in terms of the need to grow and cultivate substantial crops of marijuana in the United States.” Meanwhile, they petitioned the DEA to be more flexible regarding certain restrictions of the production of synthetic cannabidol (CBD), since Insys has been working on its own CBD product.
To point out the corruption of Insys, it’s worth noting that the company also manufacturers fentanyl, a painkiller that is 50 times stronger than heroin with a deadly track record. In fact, six former Insys executives were arrested this past December for allegedly using bribery to get doctors to prescribe the drug to patients who didn’t need it. Such news only puts more concern on the association’s immense efforts to hinder regulated marijuana use.
Regardless of the corruption, synthetic marijuana has been shown to have serious, and perhaps deadly toxic side effects. However, the same cannot be said for natural cannabis.
“It’s pretty absurd that federal law considers marijuana to have no medical value, but allows for the development of synthetic versions of the same substance,” said Mason Tvert, of the Marijuana Policy Project, which has backed many state legalization measures.
According to the Washington Post:
“The company last year said that it opposed the marijuana legalization measure because “it fails to protect the safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children.” But it added that it “firmly believes in the potential clinical benefits of cannabinoids,” and that “we hope that patients will have the opportunity to benefit from these potential products once clinical trials demonstrate their safe and effective use.”
credit:collective-evolution.com
