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Doctor group endorses Medical Marijuana
2-18-`07 | RedOrbit.com

The American College of Physicians (ACP) issued a new policy statement this week endorsing medical marijuana use. The group is urging the government to reverse its ban on medical treatments using marijuana.

"ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of THC (the main psychoactive element in marijuana) that have proven therapeutic value," the new policy statement said.

The group also advocates research into other therapeutic uses of marijuana.

The Philadelphia-based organization, the second largest doctors group in the United States, cited studies into marijuana’s medical applications such as treating severe weight loss associated with illnesses such as AIDS, and treating nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients.

The ACP said the government should weigh marijuana's status as a schedule I controlled substance, alongside such drugs as LSD and heroin, given scientific evidence of marijuana’s safety and efficacy for some medical conditions.

The new policy further called for exempting doctors who prescribe or dispense marijuana for medicinal purposes in accordance with state law from federal criminal prosecution. It also recommends that patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws be protected from criminal penalties. Currently, 12 states have laws allowing the use of medical marijuana, but supporters of medicinal marijuana use say the federal government is undercutting state laws through Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids of medical marijuana providers.

David Murray, chief scientist for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told Reuters, "The science should be kept open. There should be more research. We should continue to investigate."

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports legal and regulated marijuana sales, told Reuters, "This statement by America's second-largest doctors group demolishes the myth that the medical community doesn't support medical marijuana. The ACP's statement smashes a number of other myths, including the claims that adequate substitutes are available or that marijuana is unsafe for medical use.”

"The richness of modern medicine is to carefully evaluate new treatments. Marijuana has been in a special category because of, I suppose, its abuses and other concerns," Dr. David Dale, the group's president and a University of Washington professor of medicine, said in a Reuters telephone interview.

"Additional research is needed to clarify marijuana's therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana and the debate over legalization," the group said in a news release announcing the new policy.

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wem511

Hells yeah bring on the research

dedbr

This is the second major endorsement for herb as medicine this year. The first was from the Board of Psychiatrists, (of all places), endorsing it as a useful drug for schizo and panic disorders. Guess that shot in the ass the old "pot will fuck ya up mentally" bullshit, huh?

This is very important simply because these findings are better than an FDA "herb has no medical uses" lie anytime for me. I've already shown these to my doctors. Some just laughed because they didn't agree with them.

It's hard to fight ignorance........


Some Where In Ded Land...........

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Buzzby

I don't remember that and a search of the Google news archives for 2007 - 2008 on "psychiatrists marijuana schizo panic" doesn't come up with any hits. Where did you see this?

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dedbr

That's surprising. I could of sworn it was in our news a few weeks ago......

Let me check....

Edit...I can't find it right now Buzz, but it was published in a major psychiatric magazine at the begining of the month......Feb. ninth I believe was the date on the cover.....

I read too much....


Some Where In Ded Land...........

 

ADIDAS

I was going to ask the same as Buzzby. I bookmark all of these stories, and will one day compile all of them to send to my mother.

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MasterCylinder

The government is going to say that its already available in the form of Marinol.

Buzzby

There are 68 posts with the word "psychiatrist" in the news forum. None of those refer to a finding that marijuana is a treatment for schizo or panic attacks.

PotShot

Yep. What we do is take marijuana... the plant... that grows out of the ground for free... and we put it through processing to make a pill. Don't you people understand?

It doesn't matter how many doctors come out approving the medicinal merits of cannabis, it is always going to come down to--lets isolate it. Lets find the very specific thing that is worthy to be put into a 50 mg pill.

The thing they miss is that part of it is indeed the act of smoking/vaporizing. The joy that comes from sharing with friends; the calming of the mind; the centering that comes about.

Of course, this is why it is illegal isn't it?

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MasterCylinder

The problem is that MJ is more than THC. There are a large number of other active ingredients in it that may very well interact with THC in a positive way.