Drug WarRant

[DdC]

Second Largest US Physicians Group Endorses Medical Marijuana
(NaturalNews) Adam Miller May 06,2008

Transcending political controversy and stigma surrounding the subject, the second largest physician group in the country has endorsed the use, reclassification, and further study of medicinal marijuana. In a position paper issued February 14th, the American College of Physicians (ACP) makes the case that the red tape surrounding the medical use of cannabis is obscuring good science and stifling research.

Several states including California have opened the door for legal use of medical marijuana, but this stands in opposition to the federal government’s Schedule I classification of the plant. This discontinuity has led to legal obfuscation and obscurity as to what is actually legal. Schedule I is a term used to describe drugs such as LSD and heroin, and translates to a substance having “no accepted medical use and being unsafe for use even under medical supervision.”

With their newly defined position, ACP now joins the ranks of dozens of other national medical groups urging an ease on cannabis regulation in the face of what many consider overwhelming scientific evidence of its medicinal usefulness. “ACP urges review of marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance and reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana’s safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions,” the paper states.

Supporters hope that this will be the long-awaited nudge needed to tip the American Medical Association (AMA) in favor of reclassification and legal protection for medical use of the drug. The AMA urges further research, but so far it does not support reclassification of the Schedule I substance.

To date, the most serious argument for potential damage done by cannabis is harm to the lungs caused by smoking. The paper notes that this problem has already been overcome by a technology known as vaporization, in which the active constituents are efficiently released into the lungs without burning the plant.

Another myth dispelled by the paper is that marijuana acts as a 'gateway drug,' leading to the use of more harmful substances. "Marijuana has not been proven to be the cause or even the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse. Opiates are highly addictive, yet medically effective ... There is no evidence to suggest that medical use of opiates has increased perception that their illicit use is safe or acceptable," the group states.

The paper also cites significant evidence that cannabis relieves the nausea, vomiting and wasting that accompany cancer, AIDS and other diseases, while lessening the pain associated with multiple sclerosis and many other conditions.

Calling for further research, ACP points out that the period of validation has passed in more heavily researched areas. In these cases, the group makes clear their position that the time has come to roll out trials designed to determine proper dosage and method of delivery -- a step currently being stonewalled by the drug’s legal classification.

The position paper can be found in pdf format at acponline/medmarinews

What do Medical Groups and Doctors know?
D.E.A.th Waldo and Bulimic Nida Nora Sez on TV...
Bla bla wha wha maybe... with a heavy Berlin accent...
The media bows and prays to the Source of Propaganja.
Then sure as Drug Czars lie...
Coward corporate sponsor rags and cabal news headline,
LINKs to the new and improved bogey-person, place or things.
With some old dispelled myth's thrown in for good measure.
The old myths should have produced victims by now.
Before launching new old terrorists fear cards at people.
"maybe it might, in the future, could possibly link" threats.
Drug Worriers and Ditto-heads following Ush's to the Bank,
Rush & Bush Ush wurshipers, never questioning out of allegiance.
P.T. Barnum nailed it with them. A sucker born every minute... -- DdC

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APA Awards Unanimous Support for Medical Marijuana
November 08, 2007

American Nurses Association Endorses Access to Medical
Marijuana 7/3/03

American Psychiatric Association Assembly Unanimously Backs Medical Marijuana
Nov-07-2007



Health Organizations Supporting Immediate Legal Access to Medical Marijuana

AIDS Action Council November 15, 1996
AIDS Treatment News January 23, 1998
Alaska Nurses Association September 1998
American Academy of Family Physicians 1996-1997
American Medical Student Association March 1993
American Academy of Family Physicians 1996-1997
American Nurses Association June 2003
American Preventive Medical Association December 8, 1997
American Public Health Association November 1995
American Society of Addiction Medicine April 16, 1997
Arthritis Research Campaign (United Kingdom) October 23, 2001
Australian Medical Association (NSW) Limited September 30, 1999
Australian National Task Force on Cannabis March 1994

The FDA should change its name to the Politically Approved Food and Drug Administration - PAFDA. It's a longer acronym, but it rolls off the tongue nicely and people would appreciate its greater honesty. The agency's other option is to stop embarrassing its dedicated doctors and scientists with utterly unscientific announcements such as the recent bulletin that smoked marijuana has no medicinal value.
-- A Register-Guard Editorial May 01, 2006 Oregon

Being Alive January 3, 1996
Belgian Ministry of Health September 4, 2003.
British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology November 11, 1998.
British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (Second Report) March 14, 2001.
British Medical Association November 1997
California Academy of Family Physicians February 1994
California Nurses Association September 21, 1995
California Pharmacists Association May 26, 1997
Canadian AIDS Society (Societe canadienne du sida) May 20, 2004
Canadian Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs September 2002
Colorado Nurses Association 1995
Connecticut Nurses Association October 2004
Dean Edell, M.D. March 2, 2000
Federation of American Scientists November 1994
Florida Governor's Red Ribbon Panel on AIDS January 1993
Florida Medical Association June 1997
French Ministry of Health December 7, 1997
Hawaii Nurses Association October 21, 1999.
Health Canada December 19, 1997

* The Canadian government legalized the use of medical marijuana on July 31, 2001.

Illinois Nurses Association December 2004
Kaiser Permanente April 1997
Lymphoma Foundation of America January 20, 1997.
Medical Society of the State of New York May 7, 2004
Mississippi Nurses Association October 27, 1995
The Montel Williams MS Foundation
Multiple Sclerosis Society (Canada) July 2001.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society (United Kingdom) August 2003
National Association for Public Health Policy November 15, 1998.
National Nurses Society on Addictions May 1, 1995
Netherlands Ministry of Health* September 1, 2003.

National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) 1999

* The Dutch government made marijuana available by prescription on September 1, 2003.

New England Journal of Medicine January 30, 1997
New Jersey State Nurses Association March 25, 2002
New Mexico Medical Society January 21, 2002
New Mexico Nurses Association July 28, 1997
New South Wales (Australia) Parliamentary Working Party on the use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes 9: August 2000
New York County Medical Society February 23, 2004
New York State Nurses Association June 7, 1995
North Carolina Nurses Association October 15, 1996
Rhode Island Medical Society
Reference: Steve DeTroy, Director of Government and Public Affairs
Rhode Island State Nurses Association April 6, 2004
San Francisco Mayor's Summit on AIDS and HIV January 27, 1998
San Francisco Medical Society August 8, 1996
Virginia Nurses Association October7, 1994
Andrew Weil, M.D. July 1999.
Vermont Medical Marijuana Study Committee December 2002
Whitman-Walker Clinic April 1998
Wisconsin Nurses Association October 29, 1999

Health Organizations Supporting Medical Marijuana Research

American Cancer Society July 24, 1997
British Medical Journal April 4, 1998
California Medical Association April 1997
California Society on Addiction Medicine (CSAM) 1997
Congress of Nursing Practice May 31, 1996
Jamaican National Commission on Ganja August 7, 2001
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association May 1995
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana August 1997
Texas Medical Association April 29, 2004
Vermont Medical Society February 10, 2003
Wisconsin State Medical Society 2000-2001

The AMA recommend that adequate and well-controlled studies of smoked marijuana be conducted in patients who have serious conditions for which preclinical, anecdotal, or controlled evidence suggests possible efficacy in including AIDS wasting syndrome, sever acute or delayed emesis induced by chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, dystonia, and neuropathic pain.
-- Reference: American Medical Association
Council on Scientific Affairs Report #10: Medical Marijuana



Greed Stands In The Way of Decriminalization

The commission has come to the conclusion that the moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all. ... ...moderate use of hemp... appears to cause no appreciable physical injury of any kind,... no injurious effects on the mind... [and] no moral injury whatever.
-- Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894

Government Shows No Compassion for Medical Pot

Demonizing Religionists

Clergy Speak Out Against 'The War on Drugs'

Having reviewed all the material available to us we find ourselves in agreement with the conclusion reached by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission appointed by the Government of India (1893-94) and the New York Mayor's Committee (1944 - LaGuardia) that the long-term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects" "the long-asserted dangers of cannabis are exaggerated and that the related law is socially damaging, if not unworkable
--1968 UK ROYAL COMMISSION, THE WOOTTON REPORT

The Politics of Pot RxGanja quotes

Government Suppresses Marijuana Research

Clinton Plan Attacks Medical Marijuana Initiatives, Targets Doctors
January 2, 1997 - Washington, DC, USA