As of Friday, President Donald Trump is considering signing an executive order which would reclassify cannabis (marijuana) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA) to Schedule III. That unprecedented action would allow physicians to prescribe cannabis to treat patients’ medical ailments. The president’s decision to reschedule marijuana would be a mistake on multiple levels, as I have explained previously.   Executive Orders Cannot Take the Place of Agency Notice and Comment Rulemaking Procedures Most presidents make policy in the White House and leave the actual lawmaking to the relevant administrative agencies. Here, those agencies would be the U.S. Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. By contrast, Trump prefers to issue executive orders to combine policy and law into one ukase. That is a mistake. Congress did not create the administrative process because Congress has tried to take decision-making authority away from the president. Instead, agencies were created to complete a notice and comment period because the public needs to know what expert federal agencies, like the FDA, think about an issue involving a drug like cannabis. The agencies use the APA “notice and comment” period to solicit opposing information, evidence, and arguments.  By issuing an executive order, the notice and comment period becomes a farce because the outcome is fixed from the outset. It is a fait accompli. Unless the agency officials want to be fired, they must reach the conclusion that the president ordered them to find. Moreover, the president can force agencies to remain silent about their views on an issue even after the APA process is completed.  If they don’t want to be dismissed, agency officials asked  “Is the cannabis plant ‘safe’?” can say no more than that “The President has decided the issue, and I must obey his order.” As a result, the public aren’t informed about the pros and cons. The Cannabis Plant is Not a “Safe” Drug On the merits, the cannabis plant is not a “safe” drug. More importantly, the FDA has never found botanical cannabis to be safe, and the agency could not make that finding today. Cannabis is currently Schedule I, the category for drugs lacking a legitimate medical use. For 87 years, the nation has entrusted the FDA with the responsibility to decide what is a “drug” and what drugs are “safe.” Why is botanical cannabis unsafe? First, today’s cannabis sold is far more powerful than the version smoked at Woodstock. Back in the 60s and 70s, the THC content was 3-6%. Now, some concentrated products approach a 100% THC content, meaning that comparing the two is the same as comparing near beer to grain alcohol. That difference matters. Most recent studies have found significant risks in use of today’s ganja. Second, growing evidence links cannabis use to adverse physical problems such as oral, head, and neck cancers; cardiovascular disorders; pulmonary disease; acute, short-term hallucinations; earlier onset of psychosis; Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome; harm to the adult executive functioning of unborn or nursing children; reduced IQ; childhood poisonings. Atop all these side-effects are also adverse social outcomes such as amotivational syndrome; increased school absenteeism; and a reduced likelihood of graduating high school, enrolling in a university, or completing higher degree requirements. Heavy cannabis users and people who begin its use as minors and continue into adulthood are particularly susceptible. Third, the cannabis plant can contain a host of dangerous, unhealthy, or disgusting contaminants, such as a microbials (e.g., E. coli, fungi, mold), toxins (e.g., aflatoxins), hazardous chemical solvents remaining from the extraction process (e.g., butane, hexane, propane), pesticides (e.g., organophosphates), heavy metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury), and other harmful (e.g., formaldehyde) or distasteful (e.g., insects) substances. Fourth, the claim that no one has died from smoking cannabis is a canard. Rescheduling cannabis as Schedule III will lead to increased use, and some users will drive under its influence, crash their vehicles, or harm and kill other drivers. States with medical or recreational cannabis programs have already seen that occur. The FDA has found that some cannabis plant ingredients have legitimate medical uses, such as synthetic THC analogues dronabinol (Marinol) and nabilone (Cesamet) for treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and emesis. However, this is only the case when those ingredients are properly manufactured by a reputable pharmaceutical company—not by members of Chinese transnational criminal organizations, Dwight “The General” Manfredi, or hippies left over from the 1960s. The FDA could not find that the plant itself is “safe.” The Cannabis Plant is Not an ‘Effective’ Drug The most common justification is that cannabis has a calming effect, and therefore a legitimate alternative to opioids for pain. But cannabis is too weak to substitute for opioids as a treatment for severe pain—in fact, cannabis use hinders cessation of opioid use by anyone trying to kick an opioid dependency—and scientific proof is lacking that THC is a valid treatment for lower levels of pain. “[E]very intoxicant would pass that sort of test because you don’t experience pain as acutely when you are high. If weed is a pain reliever, so is Budweiser,” as Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explained. The Cannabis Plant is Not a ‘Uniformly Made’ Drug To be FDA approved, a drug must contain precise and uniform ingredients, formulations and potency in every batch. Cannabis plants cannot qualify because of differences in their genetics, region, cultivation conditions, growing environment, growth conditions, harvesting stage, and storage time. Cannabis and its products are sold as the botanical flower (and its components), hash, hash oil, ointments, and edibles, whether solid (e.g., brownies or “Gummy Bear” look-alikes) or liquid (e.g., soft drinks or sauces). Those forms vary in their composition and potency. A physician in Maine would have no assurance that the cannabis grown (or processed) in that state is the same as what is grown (or processed) in the other 49. The Chinese Will Laugh at Us if We Reschedule Cannabis The primary beneficiaries of any rescheduling decision will be the Chinese transnational criminal organizations who control 75% of the illegal cannabis industry—which means that the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China will also benefit. CCP and PRC’s profits from selling black market cannabis will help underwrite their efforts to become the leading military and economic power in the 21st century. If the president reschedules cannabis, the next sound that you hear from Beijing will be laughter. The post Why Rescheduling Cannabis Is a Very Bad Idea appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Left-wing Canadian lawmakers are working to introduce a new bill that would end existing protections for people of faith against prosecution under national “hate speech” laws. Canada’s Criminal Code, which bans what the government deems “hatred against any identifiable group,” contains a so-called religious exemption that protects Canadians who “in good faith” cite religious texts or beliefs. But the left-wing Liberal and Bloc Québécois parties are currently negotiating new legislation, Bill C-9, with an amendment that would remove this exemption. The bill’s sponsors say it is necessary to combat hate crimes, but conservatives warn that it could be used to suppress Canadians’ most basic civil rights. “Bill C-9 was already dangerous as far as freedom of expression and civil liberties are concerned, but if the proposed amendment is adopted, it will amount to an all-out assault on religious freedom as well,” Conservative Member of Parliament Andrew Lawton told The Daily Signal. “The state will be able to jail people who express religious beliefs or quote religious texts the government finds offensive for up to two years.” Canada’s bill mirrors new laws in the EU and Britain criminalizing what governments deem to be “hate speech,” which has been shown to include insulting government officials in Germany or silent prayer near an abortion clinic in the U.K. Bill C-9 broadens the definition of “hate speech” under the Criminal Code, prohibits interfering with access to places of worship, bans “hate symbols,” and removes the requirement that Canada’s attorney general approve “the prosecution of hate propaganda” crimes, making it easier to charge Canadians for expressing offensive thoughts. Legal analysts say that if Bill C-9 passes, it could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and freedom of faith in America’s northern neighbor. “Canada already fails to protect freedom of speech, and now some Canadians are proposing to give up on the freedom to exercise one’s religion,” Philip Sechler, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal civil rights organization, told The Daily Signal. “Canada’s descent into government censorship underscores why it’s crucial that the United States fully protect free speech.” In October, Conservative Member of Parliament Leslyn Lewis stated in Canada’s House of Commons that the bill “omits the protection of Christians, despite the fact that more than 100 churches have been burned and vandalized in Canada since 2021.” By removing the attorney general’s required consent to hate crimes prosecution, it would “risk hate speech being weaponized as a political tool by any party in power by letting the government minister decide who gets charged,” Lewis said. And it would “water down the definition of ‘hatred’ to something so vague and subjective that it would risk encroaching on the very right contained in [Canada’s] Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” The bill faced some obstacles getting through parliament. The Liberal Party, although the largest in parliament, lacks a majority and needs the support of the Bloc Québécois to pass the bill. As a concession to the Bloc an agreement was reportedly reached to add an additional provision ending the religious exemption for “hate speech” crimes. There were reports last week that Canada’s Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who brokered the deal with the Bloc Québécois, failed to get buy-in from the Prime Minister’s Office, which could delay the bill further.  Although the bill’s sponsors claim that it protects churches, critics remain skeptical. “A Liberal cabinet minister is on record as saying he believes certain verses of the Bible and Torah are ‘hateful’ and should warrant prosecution,” Lawton said. “The government has no right to legislate on how people of faith practice their religion.” Many civil rights groups and church leaders are likewise criticizing the bill. “As drafted, Bill C-9 risks criminalizing some forms of protected speech and peaceful protest—two cornerstones of a free and democratic society,” Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, director at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said in an issued statement. New definitions of “hate crimes” in the bill are “far broader than existing prohibitions and could criminalize peaceful protests simply because they are seen as disruptive,” McNicoll said. “The penalty of up to ten years in prison is very severe and could push activists into silence.”  On Dec. 4, the Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in a letter to Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney that the religious exemption “has served for many years as an essential safeguard to ensure that Canadians are not criminally prosecuted for their sincere, truth-seeking expression of beliefs.” The council asked for Carney’s assurance that “good-faith religious expression, teaching, and preaching will not be subject to criminal prosecution under the hate-propaganda provisions.” The Anglican Church of Canada told The Daily Signal in an official statement that it was “monitoring the discussions currently taking place regarding Bill C-9, and … participating in conversations with church partners about its implications and a potential collective response.” In what appears to be an increasingly restrictive trend, Canada launched gun confiscations this year and crushed trucker protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2022. In response to thousands of protesters occupying downtown Ottawa, the government forced banks to freeze participants’ bank accounts and credit cards, threatened online donors with similar treatment, and prosecuted organizers for causing “mischief.” We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post New ‘Hate Speech’ Bill Targets Canadians’ Freedom of Speech and Religion appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Well that didn’t take long. Americans were barely done polishing off the Thanksgiving turkey left-overs when various media outlets began targeting, of all things, Christmas. Apparently, this is clickbait. Here are more than a few samples you can find: Business Insider:  25 reasons why Christmas can be the worst time of year  Good Housekeeping:  Why Do Some People Hate Christmas? It's Actually More Common Than You Think Newsweek:  Why Christmas Might Not Feel Like Magic Anymore—But It’s Not Your Fault The New Republic:  Why I Hate Christmas The Grinch has it right. Odyssey:  9 Reasons Why I Don't Like Christmas, And That's Fine With Me I just really don't like holidays. Sue me. I guess I'm a Grinch. Metro:  13 reasons why Christmas is officially the worst day of the year Ranker:  All The Reasons Christmas Is Actually A Far More Horrifying Holiday Than Halloween  The Top Tens:  Top 10 Worst Things About Christmas Christmas is a great holiday, but there are definitely some strange and frustrating aspects to it.  Christianity:  Is it a Sin to Hate Christmas? What Does the Bible Say? Many Christians decry the commercialization or secularization of the holiday today, a far cry from the original story and meaning. But is it a sin to hate Christmas? Mind Journal:  “I Hate Christmas” – 6 Reasons Why Some People Hate The Holiday Season One could go on-and on and on and on, with similar examples out there from the seemingly endless pool of “hating Christmas” stories in the media. There was a time -- as hard as it may be to realize -- when the Internet didn’t exist. No one other than Charles Dickens’ beloved (and fictional!) character Ebenezer Scrooge seems to have been the only person out there who quite decidedly hated Christmas. With Scrooge famously dismissing it with scornful repetitions of “Bah! Humbug” And thanks to three Christmas ghosts even old Scrooge finally came around! But now, as is evidenced in those unlimited stories about hating Christmas, today’s media is all too quick to get into the Scrooge-like “I hate Christmas” spirit. The trouble with this is that as little boys and girls start growing up and find themselves swimming in a sea of “I hate Christmas” media stories some -- maybe much more than some -- will begin to believe these stories are not only reality but that they should be reality.  With Christianity itself beginning to fade as "the reason for the season," Christmas can sound more like let-it-snow winter festival than a celebration of the birth of Christ. Alas, no one has a crystal ball on something like this. But as it is at this moment, there is a serious media cavalcade out there annually pushing negative stories about Christmas. Not good. Not good at all.  But Merry Christmas!

Atlanta police officers from a special unit were seen on dashcam and bodycam videos converging upon and tackling a homicide suspect who was armed with a handgun modified as fully automatic, police said in a video released earlier this month.Police said officers with the Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit were alerted to a homicide suspect driving in the area of Pickfair Way SW near Ashwood Avenue NW on Oct. 28.'Ram our f**kin' car?'The officers located the suspect's vehicle and then used their patrol vehicles to box in the suspect's vehicle, police said.However, the suspect rammed patrol vehicles in front of him and behind him in an attempt to escape before fleeing from his vehicle while armed with a handgun that had been modified to be a fully automatic weapon, police said.RELATED: 15-year-old Florida female caught on police bodycam video bashing cop car — with a shovel: 'You kidding me?' Image source: Atlanta Police Department video screenshotWhile running from his car, the suspect threw the gun into an adjacent wooded area, after which officers took him down to the street.RELATED: Cop driving patrol car doesn't mess around when he spots alleged gunman on the run — and reaching for his waistband Image source: Atlanta Police Department"Get your ass on the ground!" one officer yelled at the suspect.Once lying upon the street, the suspect quickly gave himself up, telling the arresting officer, "You got me!'But the officer rubbed in the arrest just a bit, telling the suspect as he handcuffed him, "You done f**ked up, son! ... Ram our f**kin' car? We ain't the normal police, pimp!"RELATED: Motorist in jaw-dropping video actually admits to officer why he crashed 'on purpose' into back of his parked police vehicleContent warning: Language: Police said the suspect was identified as 37-year-old Keith Hawkins, who was wanted for his involvement in a homicide that occurred at 700 Eloise Street SE on April 9.Hawkins was charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (two counts), possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a machine gun, willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and operating a vehicle without insurance, police said.RELATED: Florida female going wrong way on interstate claims husband was driving. Then cops find rather large hole in her story. Image source: Atlanta Police DepartmentHawkins was taken to the Fulton County Jail for processing, police added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Trump administration’s National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent exposed a terrifying reality about the fallout from former President Joe Biden’s open border crisis.'That number, alarmingly, remains unknown at this time.'During a Thursday Committee on Homeland Security hearing, Kent testified that, under the Biden administration, thousands of foreign nationals with known or suspected terrorist ties were allowed into the country.“Despite the progress that we’ve made so far in the Trump administration, the threat posed by terrorists of all brands remains very high right now,” Kent said in his opening statement before lawmakers.He explained that the country is facing “a persistent threat from the individuals that were allowed into this country by the previous administration.”Kent noted that the most significant threat “is the fact that we don’t know who came into our country in the last four years of Biden’s open borders.”“What we have identified is alarming,” he stated, adding that the federal government recently issued a warning about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks, particularly posed by ISIS and Al-Qaeda.RELATED: White House makes touching gesture to honor assassinated National Guard member, allegedly by CIA-linked Afghan Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images“So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country,” Kent revealed. He accused the prior administration of having “facilitated” the entry of individuals with ties to jihadi groups, including the Afghan suspected of attacking National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., on November 26. The attack resulted in the death of 20-year-old National Guard member Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was wounded.“That Afghan was brought into the country as a group of over 100,000 Afghans who were brought here during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. These individuals, despite what has been reported, were not vetted properly to come into the United States,” Kent said.RELATED: Wajahat Ali says quiet part out loud in attack on Trump's re-migration plan: 'Mistake that you made is you let us in' Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty ImagesHe stated that the NCTC is working with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to track down individuals with ties to terrorist organizations. However, he noted that the 18,000 figure does not include foreign nationals who came into the U.S. illegally through the open border. “That number, alarmingly, remains unknown at this time,” Kent remarked. “We’re trying to figure out who those individuals are as well.” Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Donald Trump obliterates Venezuelan drug boats smuggling loads of fentanyl into the United States, and the left accuses him of starting a war.But it’s Venezuela’s narco‑terrorist regime that’s declared war on the United States, Mark Levin says, and President Trump has every right to respond as he sees fit. Levin condemns radical left-wing pundits, like MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow, for accusing the Trump administration of starting a war with Venezuela.“I don’t understand why we’re going to war with Venezuela, and I’m not sure the administration is even bothered to try to come up with anything even internally coherent,” she whined on the December 2 episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”“Let me help you out, dingbat. Let me help you out,” Mark Levin fires back. “They are smuggling more drugs in the United States directly and through Mexico and with communist China than any other country on the face of the earth.”For the first time in decades, he says, we have a president who actually takes seriously the Monroe Doctrine — an 1823 policy long abandoned or rejected by weak prior administrations that essentially says, “If something goes on in our hemisphere that affects our country, it’s our business, and we’re going to do something about it,” even if that means military action.The accusation that Trump committed a war crime by striking a Venezuelan drug boat twice is just “sick” Democrat nonsense, Levin says.“If another government ... headed by a narco-terrorist is using the power of that government and the resources of that government, of that country, to kill American citizens — it doesn’t matter if they do it with fentanyl drugs; it doesn’t matter if they do it with biochemicals; it doesn’t matter if they poison our water or whatever — these are acts of war,” he asserts.He then mocks the pearl-clutching Democrats shedding fake tears because narco-terrorists aren’t being politely handcuffed and read Miranda rights.It’s really simple, he says. “Look at that, a drug boat’s coming. I think we’re going to blow it out of the water. Yes.”The Constitution, Levin says, gives the president, as the commander in chief, the right to order military actions (like blowing up Venezuelan drug boats) without a formal declaration of war.He explains that throughout American history, the majority of military actions issued by presidents occurred without Congress declaring war first.Back in 1801, President Jefferson launched a full overseas naval war against the Barbary pirate states, which were attacking and kidnapping American merchant ships and sailors, without any formal declaration of war.Calling Trump a war criminal is just proof that it’s not about democracy or the Constitution for Democrats. It’s about ideology.“They’re on the side of the enemy,” Levin says.Want more from Mark Levin?To enjoy more of "the Great One" — Mark Levin as you've never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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