Medical Marijuana IS Legalized Marijuana (caduceus art by Dave Bram, Oregon NORML)
Houston, TX (ASA)– The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”
The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June of 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I substance. In the past year, the AMA has considered three resolutions dealing with medical marijuana, which also helped to influence the report and its recommendations. The AMA vote on the report took place in Houston, Texas during the organization’s annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates. The last AMA position, adopted 8 years ago, called for maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance, with no medical value.
The AMA’s about face on medical marijuana follows an announcement by the Obama Administration in October discouraging U.S. Attorneys from taking enforcement actions in medical marijuana states. In February 2008, a similar resolution was adopted by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country’s second largest physician group and the largest organization of doctors of internal medicine. The ACP resolution called for an evidence-based review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule.
So does this mean we get a change of heart from Rep. John Boozman, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and all the other Politicians on Pot who rely on the old excuse that the American Medical Association says that “crude” marijuana is not medicine?
This is huge. An entire plank in the War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs™ has just crashed and burned. Resistance to medical marijuana from roadblocks governors like John Lynch and Tim Pawlenty and Jodi Rell in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Connecticut will be more difficult now that nobody can deny that smoked cannabis is medicine. It’s a lot harder politically to veto medicine.
Rescheduling will be interesting. Marinol — a pure 100% Not Your Father’s Woodstock Weed™ dose of THC — was originally entered as Schedule II, but was then moved down to Schedule III. So how do you rate cannabis as any more dangerous than dronabinol pills? Does cannabis end up in Schedule III like anabolic steroids and ketamine (Special K), or does it end up in Schedule IV with Ambien, Xanax, Valium, and rohypnol (Roofies)>
[...] medical orgs don’t think marijuana is medicine. The only one I care about is from the American Medical Association which said “smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake [...]
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/443/csaph-report3-i09.pdf
H-95.952 2
Dumbass
Don’t know what you’re talking about – the schedules are accurate. I got them right from the DEA website.
Uhmm… the drug schedules in this article are backwards.
[...] for the “sip of whiskey” comment, let me just quote the American Medical Association: “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves [...]
[...] to be much more medical research into this issue. We encourage Congress and the President to take the advice of the AMA from two weeks ago which urged that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal [...]
[...] to be much more medical research into this issue. We encourage Congress and the President to take the advice of the AMA from two weeks ago which urged that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal [...]
[...] Russ OK, maybe it’s not an overt lie, just a failure to update their website in lieu of last week’s reversal by the American Medical Association of their position on medical marijuan…: (DEA) Exposing the Myth of Smoked Medical [...]
So if marinol is just THC, then what would prevent people from just crushing it up and putting it in the vaporizer to get their inhaled dose? I think i must be missing something here but the marinol pill just sounds like hash marketed to be eaten…
This is the tipping point or critical mass point at which a thing is unable to be stopped. Congrats to the AMA!!!
Well if the FDA says
“the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine.”
which is a lie, but if it was true it is because they are holding mmj to the standards the FDA was designed to, which is to only review amd allow pharmaceutical drug companies to produce “drugs” which are legally the only definition of “medicine”. only drugs are medicine and only they can used to treat or cure a illness. natural cannabis flowers or anything from herbology, nature, confuse the FDA because their not taught, nor legally allowed to regualte mother nature. simply the FDA doesnt do anything unless their corporate pimp pay them. yes they pay them to review and approve of their “drugs”.
the truth is cannabis should be a federally unregulated herb except for interstate commerce because its unconstitutional to legislate self morality, personal behavior, in the private home for a victimless crime or to criminalize natural nature.