November 11, 2009 10:36 AM

AMA Calls for Feds to Review Marijuana Restrictions

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Domestic Issues
(CBS)
The American Medical Association on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for the government to review its classification of marijuana, in order to ease the way for more research into the use of medical marijuana.

While the AMA, the largest physician's organization in the U.S., explicitly states it does not endorse any current state-based medical marijuana programs or the legalization of marijuana, the move is a significant shift that continues a trend toward support for easing restrictions against the drug.

"Our American Medical Association (AMA) urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines," the AMA's statement (PDF) reads. "This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product."

Marijuana is currently classified by the federal government as a "Schedule I" controlled substance, the most restrictive of five categories. Schedule I substances are considered to have a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug. Other drugs in that category include heroin, LSD and PCP. Less restrictive "Schedule II" substances include cocaine and methamphetamine.

Previously, the AMA recommended marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled substance, but it now believes the substance deserves more clinical research.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Marijuana Nation

"Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis," Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, told the Los Angeles Times. Limited studies, he said, are "insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product."

The White House drug czar's office gave a muted response to the AMA's recommendation, the LA Times reports, saying it would defer to "the FDA's judgment that the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine."

While the Obama administration opposes legalization of marijuana, the Justice Department last month announced it would no longer pursue prosecution for state-sanctioned medical marijuana sales. As many as 13 states now allow the use of medical marijuana.

The debate over whether to legalize marijuana all together seems to be gaining steam. A Gallup poll last month showed a record 44 percent of Americans now support legalizing marijuana. Meanwhile, California residents may get to vote on a 2010 ballot measure to legalize the drug in the state.

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Add a Comment See all 54 Comments
by dennbee March 18, 2010 4:56 PM EDT
What really bothers me is that even in light of all the evidence that cannabis is non-toxic, has medicinal properties and is recreationally safer than alcohol, the enforcement cartel still spews out the same old, tired lies and misinformation expecting us to blindly accept their twisted logic. We are the internet generation folks, the truth spreads like a virus and it is this truth that is behind the exceptional increase for the support of legal cannabis. We are witness to bad law being slowly deconstructed by the will of an active and informed people. Those who continue to support cannabis prohibition fit the classic definition of idiots...they use the same old tools, time after time, and expect different result each year. Cannabis use is up year after year. Volumes are up year after year. Arrests are up year after year. Lives and futures are ruined year after year. Show me where we have made good use of the billions we are throwing at cannabis prohibition! There is a better way, read...

?Our nation can acknowledge the dangers of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana while still permitting their use. The only logically and morally consistent argument for marijuana prohibition necessitates the criminalization of all harmful recreational drugs, including alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. We can agree that such an infringement on personal freedoms is as impractical as it is un-American. The time has come to accept that our nation's attitude toward marijuana has been misguided for generations and that the only rational approach to cannabis is to legalize, regulate and tax it.?
Dr. Nathan, a psychiatrist in Princeton, N.J., is a clinical assistant professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Reply to this comment
by dennbee March 18, 2010 4:54 PM EDT
What really bothers me is that even in light of all the evidence that cannabis is non-toxic, has medicinal properties and is recreationally safer than alcohol, the enforcement cartel still spews out the same old, tired lies and misinformation expecting us to blindly accept their twisted logic. We are the internet generation folks, the truth spreads like a virus and it is this truth that is behind the exceptional increase for the support of legal cannabis. We are witness to bad law being slowly deconstructed by the will of an active and informed people. Those who continue to support cannabis prohibition fit the classic definition of idiots...they use the same old tools, time after time, and expect different result each year. Cannabis use is up year after year. Volumes are up year after year. Arrests are up year after year. Lives and futures are ruined year after year. Show me where we have made good use of the billions we are throwing at cannabis prohibition! There is a better was, read...

?Our nation can acknowledge the dangers of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana while still permitting their use. The only logically and morally consistent argument for marijuana prohibition necessitates the criminalization of all harmful recreational drugs, including alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. We can agree that such an infringement on personal freedoms is as impractical as it is un-American. The time has come to accept that our nation's attitude toward marijuana has been misguided for generations and that the only rational approach to cannabis is to legalize, regulate and tax it.?
Dr. Nathan, a psychiatrist in Princeton, N.J., is a clinical assistant professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Reply to this comment
by CAMP420 February 13, 2010 11:45 AM EST
Can anyone explain to me why in the world CBS banned this NORML video ad? It is totally harmless and it is important to get the message that drug reform needs to happen now. So, what's up CBS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tqW9Kj8DVU
Reply to this comment
by CAMP420 February 13, 2010 11:21 AM EST
I hope with the AMA's recent declaration that they disagree with having Marijuana side by side with other schedule I drugs like Heroin, Ecstasy, & LSD, that the laws will change soon.

I recently had tears in my eyes talking to a patient of mine with PTSD.
What brought tears to my eyes was the fact that he suffers with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is unable to sleep most nights.
"The nightmares will never go away", he explained to me. This kind gentleman has tried multiple anti-depressants and multiple sleeping medications, none of which have successfully brought him a good night's rest.

And I am not supposed to even suggest marijuana because it's illegal.

Until the law changes, I guess maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut.
Then again, maybe he will just happen upon an article or two left in plain sight for him to read.

Rain Baker, RN, BSN, MSN
Organizer
Campaign Against Marijuana Prohibition CAMP420
www.meetup.com/camp420


References:
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/viewsource.asp?ID=134
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february132009/mj_vs_drugs_2-13-09.php
http://salem-news.com/articles/june142007/leveque_61407.php
http://blog.marijuanamedicine.com/?p=110


You can also Join CAMP420 on FaceBook, MySpace and/or Twitter
Reply to this comment
by yazooclay December 1, 2009 11:48 AM EST
The criminalization of marijuana was never about how bad it is for you. Proof of this is that alcohol is legal. Alcohol kills and disables thousands of people in this country every year. I am in my mid 50's and have seen at least a dozen of my friends ruined by alcohol and several have died as a result. To be legitimate as far as making marijuana illegal in order to protect us, then alcohol should be made illegal also. Otherwise, the law is very clearly based on a lie and that in itself is a disaster because it leads the public to lose trust in the justice of the system.
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by Dgunner November 28, 2009 10:46 AM EST
There should be laws put in place to protect general society from abusers of MJ. You can only get so high and you pass out or get sick. If one or both of these aren't happening to you ? Then you have been ripped from your money.If a roadside test can be introduced that indicates you are high and driving? Then you lose your automobile to the state right then and there. If money is owed on the auto ? Either return it to the lien holder or sell it at auction.The same needs to be enacted for DWI.
Reply to this comment
by msjb1 November 13, 2009 6:40 PM EST
who will we sue for all of us getting cancer from the second hand smoke or is that covered by obamas health care package.
Reply to this comment
by MatterofLiberty November 15, 2009 11:51 AM EST
The second hand smoke argument is not valid. If you are worried about carcinogens being released in our atmosphere or near your kids you'll need to start with cars, fireplaces, charcoal grills, its a long list really. But lets not forget Cannabis gets burned many times regardless if its by a consumer or if its DEA burning a pile of confiscated plants.
by Logicmarton November 13, 2009 9:17 AM EST
Drug fiend, pot head, doper, freak: After 56 years i wear these names as a tribute to my personal freedoms!!
Reply to this comment
by steve8313 November 21, 2009 12:04 PM EST
Amen, brother!
by sarcasticfrog November 12, 2009 2:31 PM EST
Not my article but great read...

"Medical Marijuana: The Drug Czar is Wrong (Again)

by Bruce Mirken

In its official response to the AMA?s recent call for a review of marijuana?s status as a Schedule I drug (barring any medical use) under federal law, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that it would defer to ?the FDA?s judgment that the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine.?

While we?re not used to factual accuracy from ONDCP, in this case they?re wrong not once, but twice.

First, there is absolutely no reason that plant medicines can?t be standardized and controlled for purity and potency. Indeed, the Netherlands has been doing just that for years, with medical marijuana distributed in Dutch pharmacies that is ?of pharmaceutical quality and complies with the strictest requirements,? according to the Dutch government.

Second, the FDA has never said that a natural plant product can?t be a medicine. Indeed the agency has a lengthy ?Guidance for Industry: Botanical Drug Products,? specifically designed to aid developers of plant medicines. The document not only doesn?t rule out plants as medicines, it even states, ?In the initial stage of clinical studies of a botanical drug, it is generally not necessary to identify the active constituents or other biological markers or to have a chemical identification and assay for a particular constituent or marker.? Given that the active components of marijuana are already well-known and extensively researched, marijuana is well ahead of where the FDA says plant products need to be to start the process of seeking FDA licensing.

Yes, the FDA did put out a press release in 2006 saying that ?smoked marijuana? had not been shown to be a safe and effective medicine. That statement was utterly unscientific, as we pointed out at the time, but it was absolutely not a declaration that the plant could never be a medicine."

Thanks for MPP for being up on the news...!
Reply to this comment
by revraygreen November 11, 2009 8:55 PM EST
The AMA said smoked marijuana is good for MS. I have MS. I am living proof.
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