Medical Cannabidiol Board - February 19 2021

CARL OLSEN: All right, I submitted a rescheduling decision from the International Narcotics Control Board.

CARL OLSEN: They have, ...

CARL OLSEN: The Single Convention is, ...

CARL OLSEN: Well, in that DEA letter that I got denying my exemption it relied on international treaty obligations.  And, that was on November 10th, so like December 2nd, less than a month later the UN (United Nations) removes marijuana from the most restrictive schedule.  So, I think that renders that DEA letter a little bit out-dated, dated at this point.

CARL OLSEN: Of course, I never had the authority to represent the state.  I filed that before the state agreed to do that and I didn't know the state was ever going to agree to do that.  So, that was my attempt to resolve this situation as a citizen, but ...

CARL OLSEN: Anyway, ...

CARL OLSEN: So, the UN schedules are 5, 1, 2, and 3, ranging from most severe, ...

CARL OLSEN: 4 is, ...

CARL OLSEN: They have an unusual numbering scheme, so 4 is the most restrictive.  1, 2, and 3 are the remaining ones, and then that would, ...

CARL OLSEN: So, their schedule 4 would I guess would equate to our schedule 1, maybe?

CARL OLSEN: I'm not positive, something like that.

CARL OLSEN: So, anyway, I wanted you to look at that, and I attached the rationale for their rulings that they made last, oh in January 2019 the same time I filed my petition with the DEA.  The Expert Committee on Drug Dependence of the World Health Organization made those recommendations that were approved in December.  And, they gave the rationale for those.  I attached that to the press release so you can see what they were thinking.  Some of their recommendations weren't approved, but I don't think that means that the rationale that they gave for those recommendations isn't valid.  So, I would ask you to look at that.

CARL OLSEN: It doesn't really have anything to do with the board, but it should just make you feel like, yeah, this is a legitimate thing and it's being recognized world-wide and, so, thank you for all that you do in helping us keep this program going.

CARL OLSEN: That's it.

OWEN PARKER: Okay, Carl, you still have about 30 seconds, would you?  If you have any final thoughts, or would you like us to move on?

CARL OLSEN: Yeah, I've been contacting the governor's office weekly to ask what happened to the application under 1307.03 (21 C.F.R. § 1307.03) and they just keep telling me somebody will get back to me.  And, they told me, no we didn't, like, ignore you, there's actually somebody will get a hold of you.  And, I asked if that was the department of health, and they said, no, it's somebody that works for the governor that oversees the medical cannabidiol program.  So, I can't get any information about what happened to that.  I've asked the department and the department says the governor is responsible, it's not the department that is holding it up.  So, I'm curious to know what's going on, and I would appreciate any assistance I can get on that.

OWEN PARKER: Thank you, Carl.  And, we did, I did provide the board your materials that you asked to have distributed to them.

CARL OLSEN: Cool!  Thank you!