Internists Tell Feds to Lighten Up on Marijuana
[Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog] Ease off on marijuana, a national doctor group is telling the feds.The American College of Physicians, 124,000 members strong, has issued a 13-page position paper asking the federal government to drop marijuana from its classification as a substance considered to have no medicinal value and a high chance of abuse, reports the Baltimore Sun. (Read this Health Blog post for one doctor’s high opinion of medical marijuana.)“They’ve said essentially that the federal government has it all wrong,” Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, tells the Health Blog. The ACP, which represents internists, is the largest physician group to date to ask for such a classification change, he says.
The Sun reports that the ACP’s declaration could pressure legislators and regulators to consider pushing for the schedule change. The federal government thus far has resisted fully exploring the medical benefits of marijuana, but a dozen states have legalized medical use. The ACP paper makes a broad case for easing restrictions on marijuana research and says that doctors and patients in these states shouldn’t be penalized under federal law.But at least some in the government disagree vehemently with the idea of legalizing medical marijuana. “What this would do is drag us back to 14th-century medicine,” Berta Madras, the deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy tells the Sun. “It’s so arcane.”
Somebody needs to tell Ms. Madras that marijuana is medicine no matter which century you’re talking about. Healers throughout time have recognized marijuana’s medicinal properties. Prior to the 1937 prohibition of the herb, cannabis was a major ingredient in most medicinal remedies available over the counter. Queen Victoria’s doctors gave her marijuana for menstrual cramps. There are references to medical use of cannabis in nearly every ancient civilization. All we’re trying to do is undo the 70 years of prohibition that has led to ignoring 5,000 years of medical use. We’re trying to bring our government into the 21st century where scientists and doctors know the plain truth — that marijuana is medicine.
