OK’ing Medical Marijuana

Good morning!

The Trump administration loosened federal restrictions on medical marijuana products yesterday, reclassifying them from Schedule i to Schedule iii of the Controlled Substances Act.

[BRIEF]

• Lowering federal guardrails on a psychoactive substance with proven addictive and cognitive risks will bring high costs to society.

This reclassification applies only to state-regulated medical cannabis programs; it does not legalize recreational marijuana or decriminalize possession. Still, industry stocks surged on the news. Supporters say the move aligns federal policy with the reality that 40 states already permit medical marijuana.

Yet it raises serious concerns, starting with it reinforcing the perception that marijuana is relatively harmless.

• Cannabis culture is being increasingly normalized while usage rates, even among youths, are already alarmingly high. Even the New York Times editorial board recently wrote, “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”
• As with the opioid crisis, loosening medical access can easily morph into widespread recreational dependence.

A growing body of research links marijuana use to serious problems, including cannabis use disorder, cognitive impairment and increased risk of anxiety, depression, psychosis, even lower IQ—particularly among adolescents and young adults, whose brains are still developing.

Today’s cannabis is more potent than in past decades. Average thc concentrations have risen significantly, and products such as concentrates are widely available in legal markets. Earlier assumptions about risk underestimate the effects of these newer, stronger products.

• Reclassifying the drug signals that cannabis is “safe enough,” even as emergency-room visits linked to high-potency thc products continue to climb.
• Americans have had several years to see the results of various levels of legalization in various states—and those results have been seriously negative. Evidence from states where marijuana is more easily legally accessible shows increases in impaired driving fatalities and workplace accidents.

Law enforcement is uneasy, because although recreational markets remain technically illegal, the tax relief and research perks this reclassification brings will likely subsidize gray-market activity indirectly. Distinguishing medical from recreational products is already tough and will become tougher.

Short-term harms are increasingly clear. But the long-term effects of widespread cannabis use—on mental health, cognition, public safety and more—are not fully understood.

The trend lines, though, look bad. Take a sober look at the smoke and mirrors of medical marijuana.

The Zealot Generals Have Taken Over

Who runs Iran? It is increasingly clear: It is not the supreme leader, the clergy or the civilian government but rather the generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Even the New York Times sees this reality. Yesterday, it reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is recovering in the hospital from serious injuries sustained in the war, and the irgc is in control.

• It quoted Abdolreza Davari, adviser to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying: “Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board. He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions. The generals are the board members.”

The New York Times wrote:

Iranian officials and three other individuals who know Mojtaba Khamenei said in interviews from Tehran that his deference to the Guards was partly because he was new to the leadership role. He lacks the political stature and religious clout that made his father such a singular force. And it is partly because of his deep personal ties to the Guards.

Hormuz fiasco: A week ago, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Iran would no longer target shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as part of peace talks with the United States. A day later, the irgc resumed its targeting. Reports suggest Araghchi, who works for President Masoud Pezeshkian and the civilian government, didn’t consult the irgc. The irgc appeared to be demonstrating who actually controls Iranian forces and policy. Two anonymous U.S. officials told Axios:

“We thought they were negotiating with the right people …. But what happened is the Iranian team went back, and the irgc and those kinds of people said, ‘Oh, no, no. You don’t speak for us.’”

“We aren’t sure who’s in charge, and neither do they. That’s going to have work itself out.”

Overview: The United States has been having on-and-off talks with the civilian government as mediated by Pakistan. But this does little good if the civilian government isn’t actually in charge. Read more in “Who Is Leading Iran?”

EU Steps Toward a Superstate in Cyprus

How can the European Union replace nato? That was the top item under discussion as EU leaders met in Cyprus over the last two days.

• Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty makes the European Union a mutual defense alliance just like nato.
• But nato has existed for 75 years, conducts regular joint military drills, has clear command structures, and has spent decades making its mutual defense provision as specific and workable as possible.
• The EU’s Article 42.7 was introduced in 2009 and right now looks more symbolic than practical.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, presented an early draft of a standard EU mutual defense procedure.

“It could be something like the activation of the EU civil protection mechanism, which allows any country hit by a disaster to request emergency assistance,” said a Cypriot official.

Just ahead of the meeting, the EU agreed to release a $105 billion loan to Ukraine, after outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán dropped his veto.

Most significantly, the EU is once again borrowing money as a bloc, like it did during covid-19. The ability to jointly borrow money is a seemingly boring, yet practical, powerful step toward creating an EU superstate. It adds to the pressure to consolidate European nations’ finance and taxation under a central authority. It is such a major change that three states—Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic—opted out.

• EU leaders also discussed fast-tracking Ukraine’s EU membership. Although some member nations want it to happen within the next year, it quickly became obvious that this would not happen.
• Ukraine was offered a new type of EU-lite membership, which it declined.
• The Europeans also approved their 20th sanctions package on Russia.
• European leaders met with the presidents of Lebanon and Syria. “The EU stands with your countries and your people,” European Council President António Costa said. “You can count on us.”

We have already had enough symbolic unions—Budapest Memoranda, symbolic security guarantees, nato, a symbolic path to nato. We deserve full membership in different alliances and, of course, in the European Union.
—Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine

The EU continues to take practical steps toward becoming the empire prophesied in Revelation 17 and other Bible passages. For more about the important steps the EU took this week toward this dramatic outcome, read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “The First of the 10 Kings Unite Against America.”

IN OTHER NEWS

Germany wants more power in the European Union: “In a democracy, the majority principle is the norm and unanimity the exception,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Wednesday. “We should make the norm of democracy the norm in the European Union as well.” This and other statements by German leaders come after Hungary vetoed a $105 billion EU loan to Ukraine. Wadephul said that EU member states using their sovereignty in this way is “no longer something we can afford in this world.” He and other German leaders have a reason for emphasizing this: It is much easier for Germany and other powerful European nations to achieve or force a simple majority agreement than unanimity, allowing Europe to act decisively and even aggressively. Smaller nations have resisted this for years, but Bible prophecy states that Germany will take dictatorial control of the rising European superpower.

Italy loaded with debt: Italy is set to overtake Greece as the eurozone’s most indebted country by the end of this year, Reuters reported yesterday. Italy’s new budget estimates the national debt to rise to 138.6 percent of gdp, a 1.5 percent increase over last year. Greece’s debt-to-gdp ratio is estimated at 137 percent. Italy is one of the top three EU nations by population, economy, strategic value, culture and religion, but its debt load is one reason it can never challenge France or, especially, Germany to be Europe’s dominant force.

U.S. to sell Germany major naval weapons systems: Last week, the United States State Department approved the nation’s first sale of the Aegis combat system to Germany, an $11.9 billion deal for eight units to be used in upcoming Type 127 frigates. The sophisticated and proven Aegis system integrates advanced radar detection and fire control, enabling simultaneous engagement with numerous targets with minimal human input. By approving sales like these to a presumed ally, the U.S. is actually empowering the very nation that Bible prophecy warns will attack it.

China is stealing American AI: On Thursday, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, accused China and other foreign groups of engaging in “deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns to steal American AI.” The Chinese Communist regime has a long history of stealing American technologies in order to rival American capabilities with minimal cost and delay. This software arms race is part of the larger frenzy to develop AI capabilities without fully considering the implications.

Mexican president orders investigation into deaths of CIA agents: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered an investigation after two U.S. Central Intelligence Agency agents died in a car crash in northern Mexico on April 19. The Americans were returning from a joint operation with Mexican agents to destroy illegal drug labs: Two Mexican officials were also killed in the crash. Local officials said this was at least the third time this year that cia agents had worked with Chihuahua State Police on similar missions. President Sheinbaum said the Mexican federal government was not informed about the operation and that any such U.S. operations inside Mexico must be approved by Mexico’s national government and not just state officials. Operations like this by the cia are illegal under Mexican law. The extremely high level of American drug consumption and the resultant drug-related violence in Mexico—around 23,000 killings per year—continues to create a multitude of spin-off crises.

Elite soldier accused of betting on Maduro raid he helped plan: A U.S. Special Forces soldier is in big trouble for allegedly betting on his own secret mission. Yesterday, Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was charged with fraud. Prosecutors say he made more than $400,000 on the prediction website Polymarket by placing 13 bets about capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Van Dyke was part of the planning team for the successful January 3 raid. Officials claim he used secret government information for personal gain, then tried to hide the fact using cryptocurrency. He now faces five federal charges, including wire fraud and theft of classified information. If convicted, he could spend up to 60 years in prison. Gambling continues to rapidly infect all levels of American society.