Doctors to Government: Legalize Pot
Posted on February 15, 2008
The American College of Physicians, second in size to only the American Medical Association, called Thursday for the U.S. federal government to end its ban on marijuana as medicine and move forward with research into the drug’s therapeutic utilities. The 13-page position paper was approved by the college’s governing board of regents and posted on the group’s website. With 124,000 members, the group is the largest organization of doctors of internal medicine in the United States. The paper contends that acrimonious debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that demonstrates medicinal benefits of cannabis. “We felt the time had come to speak about this. We’d like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug,” Dr. David Dale, the group’s president, told the Los Angeles Times.
The report’s introduction states: “Marijuana has been smoked for its medicinal properties for centuries. Preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest numerous potential medical uses for marijuana. Although the indications for some conditions have been well documented, less information is available about other potential medical uses. Additional research is needed to further clarify the therapeutic value of cannabinoids and determine optimal routes of administration. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana, and the debate over legalization. ACP believes the science on medical marijuana should not be obscured or hindered by the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana for general use.”
Bruce Mirkin, of the Marijuana Policy Project, called Thursday’s announcement a seismic shift in the medical marijuana debate. The college of physicians, he told Times reporter Eric Bailey, “pulverized the government’s two favorite myths about medical marijuana—that it’s not supported by the medical community and that science hasn’t shown marijuana to have medical value.”
There was no immediate response from the presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul and Barack Obama have spoken in favor of medical marijuana, while John McCain and Mike Huckabee say they would neither loosen nor tighten federal marijuana laws. The Bush administration has rebuffed efforts by Congress, the courts and law enforcement organizations to legitimize marijuana for prescription use.
Officials at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told the Times calls for marijuana legalization were misguided. “What this would do is drag us back to 14th century medicine,” said Bertha Madras, the agency’s deputy director for demand reduction. The Food and Drug Administration has refused to classify leafy cannabis as a medical drug, although it has approved two synthetic marijuana derivatives manufactured by pharmaceutical companies and is testing a marijuana spray.
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Vermont is now allowed to grow hemp, which is cool. I think the cause needs more exposure, and more support from some people with recognizable names. Thanks for writing this. End prohibition!
I haven’t kept up with all the medical // government wrangling recently, but I know my state has tried to keep medical marijuana accessible, even when Republican congressional goons tried to censure us and reverse our 2-time public-election approval of it.
I have very little “problem” with the use of marijuana for legitimate medical purposes, when prescribed by medical professionals, and I see no reason for government to think this is within their purview.
However, marijuana for the general population is evidently rampant and THAT is a whole different ball game. Marijuana causes chromosome damage and impairs judgement, at least in some people, and just like when taking other drugs labeled to “not drive” etc., I think it is irresponsible to take this drug when it affects other people’s safety etc.
I also am very much in favor of America supporting the growth of Industrial Hemp and for thoroughly investigating all the myriad ways that this amazing plant can serve us — for food, for clothing, for shelter. It is truly a miracle plant.
All this crazy American government stance has resulted in, is loss of a whole industry to other more enlightened countries, and frankly, I see NO reason for this. The American public should be in outrage, as these are needed home-grown jobs and home-grown solutions.
What a turn-about from American Colonial times when the government forced people TO GROW HEMP, and in fact, America’s first flags are made from it!
Now we have Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms goons going in and razing fields of industrial hemp on sovereign Native American reservations and in my state (Oregon), when each of these growing groups jumped through all the government red-tape hoops and were “approved” to be able to grow the plant.
In the case of the Sioux, it was for home-building materials, which the French, British and Canadians have done the development for. The tribe had borrowed thousands of dollars for the “approved seed”, and then had the crop destroyed by these government goons.
That’s a story for you to follow up on, Dann.
Meanwhile, I will reduce pain and inflammation, help my heart and brain by drinking my hemp milk or pouring it on my hemp cereal and by eating my Omega-3s from nutty, great-tasting hemp seed (sprinkled on just about anything — but never cook hemp [that destroys the goodness]) and I’ll take my hemp oil from the refrigerator to make great tasting salad dressings. But, of course all this hemp seed was grown in Canada, so we have denied American farmers an important, pest-free crop and way to make money on family farms which requires less effort, equipment and attention.
And, in support of Industrial Hemp, I’ll wear my hemp clothes which will far outlast any cotton clothes, all the while not requiring pesticide use for the hemp crop while cotton requires incredibly heavy pesticide use. And I’ll use my hemp hand-cream and hemp soap.
And, as soon as I can, I plan to try to build a home from hemp building materials from Canada, if they can still stay in business, as even those panels are not being utilized in America. Hemp homes are safe from pest damage, fireproof and incredibly robust etc etc.
Hemp is a far superior building material, and in Europe, there are homes made from hemp which are 500 or so years old and in far better condition than others of their age. Whole new villages and neighborhoods are being built from hemp materials in Britain and France. What possible excuse is there for Americans to be denied these superior materials?
So, Dann, even though I know you are interested in medical marijuana, I hope your blog and your book will also attend to the much larger (and I think more important) issue of Industrial Hemp use.
Thanks for the hemp-soap box.