Pharmaceutical companies, the Beer and Liquor industry, police unions, and private prisons all oppose marijuana legalization. That is the main reason why governments have been slow to legalize it. There are too many bought off politicians.

A 2014 study showed a significant decrease in deaths from opiates where marijuana was made legal. Marijuana puts a direct hit in the profits from pharmaceutical companies.

The pharmaceutical lobbies have also opposed DEA enforcement in the US against corrupt doctors and pharmaceutical companies. What we basically have is "legalized heroin" in the US, and slow legalization of marijuana. It's a completely backwards system.

Links on bribery, and this is not just limited to opiate medications:

• [2007] In Guilty Plea, OxyContin Maker to Pay $600 Million. The company that makes the narcotic painkiller OxyContin and three current and former executives pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and its potential to be abused. Company sales officials were allowed to draw their own fake scientific charts which showed a lower addictive potential, which they then distributed to doctors.

• FBI agents arrested former Insys Therapeutics CEO Michael Babich and five other former company executives on Thursday for allegedly bribing doctors to prescribe fentanyl to patients who didn’t need it.

• Pharma Billionaire (founder of Insys Therapeutics) Arrested On Charges of Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Opioid Painkillers

The same goes for anti depressants.

• The pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline has been fined $3bn after admitting to bribing doctors and encouraging the prescription of unsuitable antidepressants to children.

• Prozac for babies? Psychiatric drugs are now being given to infants and toddlers in unprecedented numbers.

ADHD meds.

• More than 10,000 American toddlers 2 or 3 years old are being medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder outside established pediatric guidelines.

How the science on this has been corrupted:

• Scientific American: How Pharma-Funded Research Cherry-Picks Positive Results.

• In 2009, Dr. Marcia Angell of the New England Journal of Medicine wrote: “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.”

• Richard Horton, editor in chief of The Lancet, recently wrote: “Much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness. As one participant put it, “poor methods get results”.

• "I can't tell you exactly what percentage of the trials are flawed, but I think the problem is far bigger than you imagine, and getting worse...it is so easy to manipulate data, conceal it or fabricate it...there is almost a code of silence not to speak about it." -Whistleblower Dr. Peter Wilmshurst

• "The neuroscientific community needs to challenge the current scientific model driven by dysfunctional research practices tacitly encouraged by the 'publish or perish' doctrine, which is precisely leading to the low reliability and the high discrepancy of results."

• Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science (Ninety-seven percent of original studies had significant results (P < .05). Thirty-six percent of replications had significant results)

Wow. Thank-you for this treasure trove of information. This was always a conspiracy of mine but never really put significant time into researching it. I've got a couple hours of reading, I'll be sure to pass this on to my circle of friends.

Look into Kratom, they're doing the same thing in real time but as fast as they can. Watch Ben Swann's new video on it.

www.americankratom.org

fight for your rights and push back against oppression.

Ya and their argument is it's a risk to public safety because there are "no proven medical benefits" and they've recorded something like 44 deaths "caused by Kratom"... since 2011! Meanwhile painkillers made in labs continue to kill 10's of thousands a year, and have proven medical benefits! Our health and best interests are definitely at heart with the evidence coming to light.

Yeah they are. Know plenty of people who got off the pills with kratom and swear by it now. Trying to take away the saving grace of pill heads everywhere.

Jack Herer wrote a book you may be interested in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Herer

They named a strain after this guy!!!

This may be a bit morbid and slightly unrelated to this post; but long story short, I didn’t know who Jack Herrer was until I was smoking some Jack Herrer on top of Jack Herrers grave and decided to google his name. I shit you not.

Probably the weirdest/spookiest/craziest coincidence in my entire life by a couple hundred miles

And rightly so!

The thing that pisses me off is the fact that we have all the proof of obvious corruption in the system, but we still can hardly do anything about it because we as a people can't seem to unite on anything. And THAT is what the government depends on. Our confusion.

They just keep stirring the pot with their BS war on drugs (which is designed to take away the rights of millions of poor people once they are labeled as a 'criminal'), adding fuel to the racial fires by imposing laws and allowing police actions based on race, while making them seem "racially neutral", constantly changing laws so they can't be challenged in courts, and allowing us to "think" we have a voice by voting, but greatly restricting the allowable actions of the people we vote in, until they "play ball."

Complete reformation is needed from the bottom up. From the individual, to the family, to the community, then local government, and so on. IT WILL NOT CHANGE from top to bottom. There is too much money at the top, so we as a people have to come together and put our differences aside in order to make those changes we need in our country and cut off their financial supply.

That is the only way.

Here’s a good reason why we’re divided.

https://youtu.be/R9i19MnyRs0

Exactly. This is the game that the wealthy are playing and we keep falling for it.

Saved, thanks.

The conspiracy I'm most passionate about. It's illegality is a heinous crime against humanity. It's also far too obvious what's going on.

I’m properly going to use this information for a research paper. Thank you for providing all of this so professionally

You totally should. This information should be mandatory knowledge. The biggest reason Big Pharma has been able to go so long doing this while making a literal killing is because so many people aren't aware of how corrupt the system is.

This. Is. Awesome. Thank you for your service.

Seriously, I am in the healthcare industry, I have many people close to me that struggle with opiate use, and when you peel back the layers, it is as close to ‘conspiracy’ as you could imagine.

I saved your comment for future reading, please never delete it.

Look into Ontario, methadone clinics, and the recent pharma laws passed.

Woah good comment. Saved, thanks for the info!

It's not physically addictive at all and mentally it's habit-forming at worst. Wonder how "addictive" social media is for some users?

I truly don’t think there is anything harmful about cannabis.

I might tend to agree to the point that its not harmful to most with moderate usage. Too much smoke in anybody's lung can be drying and lead to problems, but that is easily mitigated with marijuana.

For people with addictive personalities though things can get tricky. But there will always be something to be addicted to for people like that. If I didn't live in a place that was very tolerant of weed when I was younger I have no doubt I would have been an alcoholic at best and a full blown junkie at worst.

Marijuana's potential harm factor is so low as to be laughable in comparison to so many other things society just accepts wholesale it's crazy.

Too much smoke in anybody's lung can be drying and lead to problems

Yeah I agree, but there are still numerous consumption methods that don't involve inhaling smoke, especially for medicinal use.

To much of my surprise however, studies have actually shown that smoking marijuana is perhaps beneficial to respiratory/lungs:

recent large studies have shown that, instead of reducing forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity (FVC), marijuana smoking is associated with increased FVC. The cause of this is unclear, but acute bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis may be relevant

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072387/

In a large cross-section of U.S. adults, cumulative lifetime marijuana use, up to 20 joint-years, is not associated with adverse changes in spirometric measures of lung health.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25521349

Also consider the fact that the all time greatest Olympian and swimmer, Michael Phelps, was a habitual pot smoker.

Thanks for the sources

Have you compared habitual marijuana use, or even binge marijuana use, to that of habitual alcohol (usually called alcoholism) or Binge alcohol use?

Yeah, even though it's illegal, I'd rather kids do the former.

Edit: latter to former.

I think you meant the "former" or else I'm taking this out of context and you think alcohol is safer than weed for kids to binge on.

If that's what you meant...it isn't.

Yea .. oops! Fixed it

Sometimes I eat too much snacks after I smoke.

Maybe not the cannabis itself, but people can have some difficult reactions to it. Most of that is the inability to regulate dosage unless legalization, regulation and intelligence are present.

Imagine alcohol not marked with proof.

Imagine alcohol not marked with proof.

Sure, someone consuming alcohol with zero awareness of the strength of drink and/or their own limit is putting themselves at risk of dying.

If someone were to continue to smoke some weed to the extreme limit (why would someone do that in the first place), the very worst case scenario is they fall asleep.

Weed shouldn't be compared to alcohol, imo. It's far less toxic than an Aspirin.

I agree with what you are saying, but labeling strength won't do much for the average person.

Most drinkers don't know what proof is or how it relates to how drunk they get. They just drink until they get the feeling thay they don't need to drink anymore. Usually by finding out how much is too much, and working their dosage down...

Think about all people that refuse a tequila shot (120proof) saying tequila gets them too drunk, so they opt for a vodka shot (120proof) instead.

Marijuana has an added benefit of a rapid onset allowing people to work their dosage up, and it is very easy for responsible people to self-dose appropriately.

Where are you buying 120 proof tequila? I need to shop there.

Ah, I should have went with 110, as most of my tequilas are 90-110, but the strongest tequila I've had is Sierra Silver Tequila 150 proof. I don't recommend it though.

Put in a request to see if local distributor can get it. Thanks friend.

Yes, of course, too much cannabis will not kill you, but in some situations can give you a very rough time. I do believe, for the most part, with the idea one gets the high we need not want. But, as legalization becomes main stream, we should also acknowledge that this is powerful medicine of body and mind and spirit. Not a toy.

I’m 100% for legalization and I think cannabis is a wonderful medicine that can help a lot of people, and I think it can be fun and uplifting when not abused. However, I do think there are a lot of people who abuse cannabis and are in denial about it. Excessive daily smoking makes many people lazy and demotivated, and while it may not be a physical addiction, it can be addictive in a certain way. And no, a cannabis addiction isn’t going to lead to you being dead in the gutter, but it certainly can lead to you being couchbound and shutting your brain off and smoking your life away. People want to say there is nothing harmful about cannabis, but I just don’t think that’s true. It can definitely be harmful. I think people need to be willing to admit the potential for abuse and have a conversation about sensible use that respects the gifts the plant has to offer.

I know I personally have spent too much time couchbound and smoking my life away. I have quit entirely now and I also know how easy it would be to start again and get back to old habits. I can’t be around it because I know I have no self control.

100% this - it is great but can lead to the above in certain cases. It also increases the likelihood of depression and psychotic incidents for some people.

Going from a chronic, every day smoker to an occasional user made an absolutely huge difference in my life. I didn’t realize how deep in it I was, and how much of my life I was basically neglecting, until I stopped.

Long time user. I beg to differ. I have physical symptoms from quitting. Trouble eating, drinking,sleeping. And the vivid dreams are crazy. While nowhere near the shakes of opioid users, to say it isn't at all isn't exactly true.

It's a myth that it isn't phsyically addictive at all, but withdrawal symptoms are minor, and usually only experienced by longterm chronic chronic users.

Loss of appetite, nasuea after eating, diahrea, insomnia, sweating, etc...

There are "chronic" users who report real physical effects upon stopping cannabis . Mine personally are difficulty sleeping and sweats during sleep. This only lasts 3-4 days, but it can be irritating . However if a heavy user "tapers down" properly there may be no effects of quitting at all.

I've quit weed multiple times in the years I've had Facebook and Snapchat, this is food for thought.

Yet even then if you have certain chronic pain issues then opioids are vital and like most drugs some people are fine with them and don't need a nanny regarding their usage. Cannabis should have been legalized ten years ago, big money runs everything.

The DEA is attempting to ban Kratom as well. Marijuana never helped with pain for me personally. Kratom has changed my life and got me off a shit load of opiates. The DEA started to go after it when the pharmaceutical companies began trying to patent synthetic versions if kratom.

It's so terrifying knowing that the DEA is just a tool for pharmaceutical companies and they're actively trying to ban natural medicine.

And some sort of sex scandal, car accident, or convenient two-shot suicide is right around her corner.

Democrats who want to run in 2020 realize they have to do something to appeal to the Sanders wing. A few of them have taken up this issue over the past year in hopes people won't look at their relationships to Wall St. and the banksters.

Gillibrand is one of these.

How "right around her corner"? A month? A year? Ten years?

This isn’t really a conspiracy. It’s a statement of fact, and nobody with half a brain could rationally dispute this. Fuck pharma. Fuck bureaucrats. Vote like you give a fuck. Spend your money like you give a fuck (ie don’t give it to those that don’t reflect your values). If you’re tired of being controlled by the powerful few, do something about it.

It's an obvious conspiracy and collusion that is literally costing lives daily. So that certain companies can keep making money.

But to most Americans it's still "the good drugs your doctor prescribes"

There’s a place for opiates. But most of the time they’re not needed. If people need an opiate-like effect, buy kratom. Don’t give these assholes your money. That’s something small we can do now while fighting the bigger battles over time.

Came here to say this. Some stuff on here is out there, others plausible, this one I didn’t even know was considered a conspiracy.

And unfortunately the senator passed away the next day from an unexpected heart attack

The insane prohibition on marijuana in this country is about to topple over. Can't you feel it?!

It's just like the prohibition on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage went from an election-winning boogeyman in 2004 for Bush to a basically unchallenged societal reality a decade later. It just took a tiny little nudge to flood ahead. Marijuana legalization is about to happen, too.

We need to support those efforts, and the politicians than poke their heads out of their fear-crazed turtle-shells to move it forward. It's very important, for civil rights, for a further dismantling of the prison state, for medical treatment, etc.

I liken it to how gambling came back in the late eighties and nineties.

The reason gay marriage gained momentum is because there is no money in it. This will be different unless people really try.

Run for office!

Thank God someone who hold some sort of authority is finally doing this.

It's the only thing moderates all around agree on: marijuana should be legalized.

drug dealers own your government.

Anything that could be done to rectify the egregious abuse major corporate policy gets away with is appropriate. Yes, burn those assholes alive.

even though i do not smoke weed anymore i can say for certain that it did eliminate my physical problems, i can't explain it but paracetomol isn't shit compared to the medical benefits of weed.

legalize that shit worldwide man.

Hi there, I'm a big pharma employee. I'm not low level but I'm not a CEO either. Most of us aren't evil. I talk with my coworkers about different drugs and their effects. Most of us agree on the harms of opioids and the literal ignorance of executives to Marijuana. We are up there on the ladder as well so we aren't voiceless. I see contracts for Marijuana derived drugs come across my desk. Most are no problem. My personal opinion is that organizations known in my field as GPOs (group purchasing organizations) are the main entities to blame for lack of adaptation. This is my educated point of view. They aren't evil either but the amount of money that flows through these systems is astronomical. As an example I have a current discrepancy on my desk. 2 customers spent 29,000 in one month on a product they may not be eligible for. It's not a big deal I just have to find out why and how they have access. It's not a conspiracy, these people are legally allowed their purchasez, it's just the price at question. Since that's 2 customers. There is a GPO with 39,000 offices connected to the same contract. To give more of an idea my responsibilities include several million dollars. No my salary does not scale with this.

I'm open to questions.

They want to patent botanicals like weed and kratom. Patent, geneticslly modify, or create their own synthetic versions. It's worthless to do that if you can grow the real thing yourself or borrow some from a neighbor. I know you're probably decent but companies like yours have comprimised our gov. and gained control in pursuit of wealth ans power. What's fair, just, and the right thing for America and our freedom is ignored and trampled over.

My company personally doesn't make anything. We are a large distributor. The companies that make and hold these patents probably are unscrupulous. I don't doubt that they have scientific studies and many brilliant and kind people working for them though. My experience with patents and such do lead me to the standard phrase of literal controls on substance. Growing your own anything is a noble and forward thinking about ecologically sustainable life. The only thing I would warn against is dosing. That's where these companies that may not be evil come in. Their facilities and distributors provide a lab safe and accurate dosage of any of these Marijuana derived substances. Much like an edible if someone ate something that was 8x the dosage they intended it obviously wouldnt have the desired effect. While that wouldn't be life threatening it may be a certain turn off to a totally effective treatment.

See but most buy from someone they trust, so the chance that hazard occurs should be remote. It's when you buy from people you don't know are trustworthy, that's where the danger lies.

Get a job in a different field. Sounds like you want to do good.

I appreciate your input. Thank you for adding to the discussion.

Your comment has 1 point at the time of my writing this. I upvoted it to 2, and there is a reply to your comment with 6 points. That means people very likely have been upvoting your comment but they are being cancelled out by downvotes.

There is nothing wrong with your comment and I have a hard time believing anyone could read your whole comment and decide it was worthy of anything other than an upvote, let alone a downvote.

I just thought I would let you know, because this is a clear sign of inorganic downvoting pointing to vote manipulation. Your comment should be the top comment in this thread and instead it has 1 point. Big red flag here.

Is this a conspiracy? I thought it was pretty much commonly-understood fact

Depends on what the claim is. If you're claiming that pharmaceutical companies will sometimes lie, or manipulate the results of studies, or bribe lawmakers, or neglect to report harmful effects that would get their drugs pulled -- that's a commonly understood fact.

If you're claiming that "big pharma" is deliberately suppressing the knowledge that marijuana cures cancer so they can continue raking in the billions by keeping people sick and selling them chemo drugs -- that's a conspiracy theory.

Conspiracy means "2 or more people conspiring to commit a crime".

Not "crazy idea that isn't true". You've been led to believe that is the definition by the CIA who used the term "conspiracy theorists" to label people who questioned the JFK assassination they were most likely responsible for.

It's incredible the number of people who think it is the second definition. It is literally a part of how they continue to keep the public in the dark and the conspiracy keeps going on.

Did anyone hear this? Who are they complaining to? I never heard any Big Pharma people come to me and complain. Nor do I read anything of sorts. Senator, you are here to serve the people, not the Pharma. If they complain they can go to courts. You are paid to listen to People's complaints.

Good example of money is the root of evil.

Big pharma and the shit they do is pretty high on my shit to give a fuck about list, I hope this picks up steam.

The shit big pharma hides will make big tobacco's century of lies look like child's play.

Someone isn't getting reelected

If weed actually helped my chronic pain I'd smoke the shit out of it , so I'm stuck feeling scared to death they'll take my medicine ( although horrible for me but it works ) off the market because of pharma's bullshit. Wonderful position to be in right now let me tell ya.

look up www.americankratom.org and check out the kratom subreddit

Kratom's a work in progress for me , makes me gag to the point of vomiting and upsets my stomach like a motherfucker. I'm hopeful to find the right mini doses to stack in order to get a good idea how well this stuff works.

Go to the kratom sub for advice. I hear mixing it in applesauce or something similar works for some people.

Ok , I'll try that. You know the funny thing is , I can chew 10 Percocet up in my mouth and swallow without a drop of water and not even once gag but here's this plant that'll probably free me from this shit and I can't even swallow it. Life's just full of the little ironies ya know.

I feel ya buddy. It's a scary ass time to be ill.

Following

Don't touch my cannabis, but stay away from my pharmaceuticals as well, for poison and antibiotics anyway. Good luck smoking the pain away.

Kratom too

Or Kratom.

Kirsten Gillibrand has been on all 10 sides of every two sided issue (and passionately so for each side), but if this is the new pet issue she’s landed on I’ll gladly take her support. I hope she really prioritizes and leads on it.

I’m 100% for legalization of marijuana a in any form whatsoever. But I’m pretty sure it’s garbage for pain management vs opioids... anyone with first hand experience in both care to comment?

Cannabis offers -2 pain, Vicodin -3, oxy -4, but cannabis will add that -2 on top of any opioid in a way no other pain killer, even ibuprofen and the like, can.

Who are the innocent victims in these fights? The chronic pain patients. How many pain patients who use opiods actually overdose on opiods ? The overdoses they are recording on are from heroin & now the evil China Fentynal. Yet, they record them as opiod overdose without specifying WHAT opiod. Then they sell it to the people as legal opiod overdoses.

The prescription opiods have been cut dramatically, yet the overdoses are going up. Yet nobody is really questioning why. Gee, couldn't be heroin could it?

The russian shills and donald kneelers will be hard pressed to oppose this, unless state rights fade when a fake conservative sits on a throne of lies and smells like beef and cheese.

I smoked weed all throughout my teenage years. I got high thousands of times on a wide range of high end hydropinically grown strains of it. In that time I have on occasion been sick and or injured. WEED DOESNT DO JACK SHIT FOR PAIN. You may be high, but if you have a broken bone, tooth ache, or be post surgery the pain is still there and you still feel it. The conspiracy is that all of a sudden people believe its a miracle pain suppressant now.

I can't believe that it's good for seizure reduction or nuasea, but pain? No, get fucked.

Cannabis, like opiates, has a medical use - the range and applications of which aren't nearly as broad as so many stoners like to imagine, but they're there. The issue I have with recreational users making the argument cannabis has utility beyond just getting stoned and wasting away is that they're feigning the reason they smoke is to self-medicate and not hedonistic euphoria-chasing. Opiates have medical utility. You don't see people making the argument heroin should be legalized for this reason. I mean, some radical libertarians do, but let's be real - it isn't on any rational, functional person's list of priorities. Marijuana should be legal for the fact it's a relatively safe recreational substance which meets all reasonable thresholds for legality alcohol does and more.

All of you who habitually, recreationally smoke marijuana are degenerate losers, but with that said it should still be at the very least decriminalized.

Nobody's ever died from smoking opium, or heroin for that matter. You'd pass out far before you could ever overdose. It's not the bureaucracy's responsibility to decide what consenting adults can or cannot do with their bodies. It's just another instance of do-gooders' overreach. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the bureaucracy loves pretending it has altruistic motives.

wut

Promising research into cancer killing properties, reduction in the brain plaque build up that causes Alzheimer's, anti epileptic therapy that's safe for children, PTSD and anxiety reduction, increased appetite for people with aids cancer and wasting disease, inflammation reduction in general and more specifically in chronic diseases like Crohn's, endometriosis and arthritis. Broader than you've done the research to know or understand. I've watched cannabis alone put my best friends Crohn's disease into remission after 7 surgeries in 4 years, Prednisone, humira, three clinical research trials of early test drugs, a full ostomy and little to no relief or reduction in symptoms. Plus watched the horrible side effects of all the drugs with no real change in his condition. Dr's have told him it's one of the most aggressive and least responsive to treatment cases they have ever seen. Started on a high CBD low THC distillate regimen 2 years ago and within 8 months was given a full remission diagnosis and been in good health and better spirits since. With real funded research, the properties of the plant in not only a medical sense but fuel, co2 filter, biomass, plastics and so many other uses would be utilized and change the world. But you're right, just skeevy stoners trying to get high and not be in trouble.

Key word: research. Most of your claims aren't proven to be the case in humans.

Studies do, however, incontrovertibly prove marijuana can permanently lower IQ through heavy use. It can antagonize latent psychological disorders in people who might otherwise never have experienced said disorders. It has been shown to cause memory problems. And, perhaps most importantly, it frequently turns people who use it regularly into low-life degenerates with low ambition. Clearly there are exceptions.

With that said, I do believe it should be legalized and further researched so we can have definitive data proving its medicinal effectiveness.

Low life degenerates - is that the medical definition or layman's terms?

I thought most of science says IQ test are not a good marker for intellgence. You disagree?

There is no consensus on this assertion. I know some people believe more tests are necessary on top of the standard IQ test to accurately determine one's level of intelligence, but that only discounts the significance of IQ if you fall into this school of thought, and absolutely does not disqualify it.

But, yes. I disagree.

I disagree myself IQ might not be perfect but it the best thing got, science gets a lot of things wrong. I also disagree that pot lowers IQ permanently, except maybe short term after quitting. I think IQ is lowered when under the influence, it also dulls some senses and situational awareness.

Marijuana should be legal for the fact it's a relatively safe recreational substance which meets all reasonable thresholds for legality alcohol does and more.

Marijuana is more than reasonably safe, but this isn't the primary reason it should be legalized. The primary reason it should be legalized is that criminalization doesn't work and has many large-scale negative consequences. The fact that widespread use over the last 50-60 years has generally indicated its not a toxic or dangerous substance is just icing on the cake.

I think people who make broad medical arguments about marijuana are mostly well-intentioned, but it's the wrong argument to make. I don't think that many arguments are based on strong science (prohibition simply hasn't allowed much science to take place) and there's a reasonable suspicion that "medical" is just a way to skirt prohibition for recreational use. Worst case, the medical arguments sound like new age, hippy-dippy nonsense.

I do think there will probably be scientifically validated and well understood medical therapies that come from marijuana, but it will take years after full-scale legalization to really discover them because the institutions that can do the work are legally sensitive about running afoul of Federal law.

Depends on what the claim is. If you're claiming that pharmaceutical companies will sometimes lie, or manipulate the results of studies, or bribe lawmakers, or neglect to report harmful effects that would get their drugs pulled -- that's a commonly understood fact.

If you're claiming that "big pharma" is deliberately suppressing the knowledge that marijuana cures cancer so they can continue raking in the billions by keeping people sick and selling them chemo drugs -- that's a conspiracy theory.

Conspiracy means "2 or more people conspiring to commit a crime".

Not "crazy idea that isn't true". You've been led to believe that is the definition by the CIA who used the term "conspiracy theorists" to label people who questioned the JFK assassination they were most likely responsible for.

It's incredible the number of people who think it is the second definition. It is literally a part of how they continue to keep the public in the dark and the conspiracy keeps going on.