No less a mainstream group than The American College of Physicians has issued a call to the federal government to relax its ban on medical marijuana use and foster research into the drug's therapeutic possibilities. The ACP, a 124,000 member group which serves as the largest for internal medicine physicians, argues that legal debates have distracted everyone from the fact that there's good science demonstrating the benefits and potential of cannabis. The group would like to see the government drop marijuana's Schedule I classification, which places it in the same category as heroin and LSD (drugs which are considered to have no medicinal value and high abuse potential). The ACP is also asking for protection of both doctors and patients from civil or criminal penalties in states that have adopted medical-marijuana laws. The FDA has flatly refused to consider such proposals in the past, as have other officials within the current administration.
To learn more about the ACP's initiative:
- read this piece [1] in The Baltimore Sun
- review the ACP paper [2] (.pdf)
Related Articles:
ACP publishes quality measurement tools. Report [3]
SPOTLIGHT: ACP wants candidates to stress HIT investment. Report [4]
Links:
[1] http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.marijuana15feb15,0,5512085.story
[2] http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/other_issues/medmarijuana.pdf
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/acp-publishes-quality-measurement-tools/2006-07-27?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=healthcare_ahrq
[4] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/spotlight-acp-wants-candidates-stress-hit-investment/2008-02-04