The industry lobbying group , Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association ( PhRMA ), twice gave Governor Otter the maximum allowable contribution , who repaid that favour many times over with the CBD bill veto .
Email records show that Figueroa reached out to PhRMA lobbyist Jeremy Pisca to discuss “ the Office of Drug Policy ’ s work on the CBD oil issue .”
“ But a month after reaching out to Pisca , Figueroa was trying to steer the state legislature and the Otter administration toward an alternative to CBD oil legalisation : a limited clinical trial of a new drug . In a primer sent to Perkins on February 27 , Figueroa outlined three potential outcomes for the CBD bill . The “ preferred option ,” she wrote , was to “ try to kill ” the CBD bill “ and promote the [ Food and Drug Administration ] trial as an alternative .”
The timeline suggests that the Office of Drug Policy was never really working with the legislature to pass a mutually agreeable version of the bill , but was moving on a parallel track from the start .”
Never let a tragedy go to waste , in the minds of pharma companies . If people are passionate about using a plant to cure seizures , keep criminalising that plant and instead develop a patented version of the plant ’ s active ingredient .
Figueroa was getting advice from a physician with ties to the maker of Epidiolex . While Epidiolex , derived from CBD oil , is also showing promise for epilepsy , it ’ s a long process to get patented pharma drugs to market .
Meanwhile , Idaho parents can only watch as parents in other , more enlightened states ease the suffering of their children with a plant extract – a behaviour that makes them a criminal in Idaho .
“ We ’ re reminded every day when [ Julia ] has seizures of that decision , that it was vetoed ,” Sara Gambassis told Boise State Public Radio . “ It ’ s not just we heard the news and it was over . We see her every day having seizures . We see her having seizures and hitting her head , and because she ’ s non-verbal she can ’ t even tell us how it feels .”
As Boehm puts it :
“ Otter ’ s veto grew out of a system controlled by powerful interests who benefit from the maintenance of the status quo . Law enforcement wants to keep fighting the war on drugs — even when that means fighting kids with seizures — because it provides an endless stream of reasons for police departments to be given more money and the latest tech , with few questions asked . And pharmaceutical companies worry that legal weed will undercut the market they ’ ve spent decades capturing , because it provides an alternative for people suffering from pain , seizures , and other ailments . None of those incentives are changing , even as the edifice of marijuana
The senseless prohibition of CBD oil is wrecking families . Kelly Osbourne , a 23- year-old mother , had her kids taken by the state for attempting to give her daughter cannabis-infused butter to stop her seizures .
“ They ’ ve already taken my life — they ’ ve taken my kids — so at this point , I really don ’ t have anything else to lose ,” said Osborne .
Until the tyranny of heartless , irrational politicians — and the ruthless greed of the corporations that keep them in power — can finally be dispelled , stories like Kelly Osbourne and Josh Phillips will continue playing out in Idaho and the minority of states where cannabis prohibition reigns .
http :// thefreethoughtproject . com / police-bigpharma-shamefully-cbd /