124,000 Doctors ask Feds to ease up on Cannabis Laws

[Ichingcarpenter]

nternists Tell Feds to Lighten Up on Marijuana
Posted by Shirley S. Wang

marijuanaEase off on marijuana, a national doctor group is telling the feds.

The American College of Physicians, 124,000 members strong, has issued a 13-page position paper asking the federal government to drop marijuana from its classification as a substance considered to have no medicinal value and a high chance of abuse, reports the Baltimore Sun. (Read this Health Blog post for one doctor’s high opinion of medical marijuana.)

“They’ve said essentially that the federal government has it all wrong,” Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, told the Health Blog. The ACP, which represents internists, is the largest physician group to date to ask for such a classification change, he says.

PDFThe Sun reports that the ACP’s declaration could pressure legislators and regulators to consider pushing for the schedule change. The federal government thus far has resisted fully exploring the medical benefits of marijuana, but a dozen states have legalized medical use. The ACP paper makes a broad case for easing restrictions on marijuana research and says that doctors and patients in these states where medical marijuana is legal shouldn’t be penalized under federal law. (Click on PDF image to read the position paper.)

But at least some in the government disagree vehemently with the idea of legalizing medical marijuana. “What this would do is drag us back to 14th-century medicine,” Berta Madras, the deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told the Sun. “It’s so arcane.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/02/15/internists-tell-feds-to-lighten-up-on-marijuana/?mod=googlenews_wsj

[lovuian]

1. My 91 year old great grandma used to smoke it on the farm

she was one happy grandma

[dysfunctional press]

2. it sounds like you had a great great-grandma.

:hippie:

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. I hope this terrorism of clinics ends with the next election

It is really bad in California where Feds have raided about 60 or more clinics.

[ms liberty]

4. KR&B n/t

[me b zola]

5. K&R

[ooglymoogly]

6. The Reagan war on drugs was the feds intro into fascism

and the present governments "war on terror". It is the foundation of its fascistic power over the people. When they declared the war on drugs they declared war on the people and nobody made a peep.

......."They came for the guy down the street and I did not lift a finger, next they came for my neighbor and I did not even raise my voice, next they came for me".....

[suziedemocrat]

7. Seems like that was more of a war on Marijuana. They ignored Cocaine.

And don't get me started about their relationship to crack.

[pleah]

8. K&R