AMA Finally Gets It!

Moldy

Well-Known Member
AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana Has Medical Benefits



By Americans for Safe Access - Tuesday, November 10 2009 Tags:
The American Medical Association voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value.
The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research.
The CSAPH report concluded that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Furthermore, the report urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods."
The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June of 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana's status as a Schedule I substance. In the past year, the AMA has considered three resolutions dealing with medical marijuana, which also helped to influence the report and its recommendations. The AMA vote on the report took place in Houston, Texas during the organization's annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates. The last AMA position, adopted 8 years ago, called for maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance, with no medical value.
"It's been 72 years since the AMA has officially recognized that marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility," said Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., the medical student who spearheaded both the passage of the June 2008 resolution by the MSS and one of the CSAPH report's designated expert reviewers. "The AMA has written an extensive, well-documented, evidence-based report that they are seeking to publish in a peer-reviewed journal that will help to educate the medical community about the scientific basis of botanical cannabis-based medicines." Aggarwal is also on the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest medical marijuana advocacy organization in the U.S.
The AMA's about face on medical marijuana follows an announcement by the Obama Administration in October discouraging U.S. Attorneys from taking enforcement actions in medical marijuana states. In February 2008, a resolution was adopted by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country's second largest physician group and the largest organization of doctors of internal medicine. The ACP resolution called for an "evidence-based review of marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule. "The two largest physician groups in the U.S. have established medical marijuana as a health care issue that must be addressed," said ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson. "Both organizations have underscored the need for change by placing patients above politics."
Though the CSAPH report has not been officially released to the public, AMA documentation indicates that it: "(1) provides a brief historical perspective on the use of cannabis as medicine; (2) examines the current federal and state-based legal envelope relevant to the medical use of cannabis; (3) provides a brief overview of our current understanding of the pharmacology and physiology of the endocannabinoid system; (4) reviews clinical trials on the relative safety and efficacy of smoked cannabis and botanical-based products; and (5) places this information in perspective with respect to the current drug regulatory framework."

sounds like good news to me :-P
 

growone

Well-Known Member
i think this is a very big deal, the DEA has wrapped itself in the banner of 'no medical use' forever
it's one more nail in coffin(soon to be coffin) in the current structure of marijuana law
'the times, they are a changing'
 

ford442

Well-Known Member
yep..! awesome! that was the main remaining argument for ex-DEA talking heads.. next they'll say that the FDA has to approve it i imagine...
 

SmokeyMcChokey

Well-Known Member
YAY cant wait for the reports to be published in a reputable journal so i can rub it in my advanced anatomy professors face. we had a 45 minute argument about whether there was any valid use for any of the cannabinoids found in cannabis
 

dontexist21

Well-Known Member
I see legalization being pushed up by at least 10 years. We should send the job wanted sections of newspapers to the DEA, help them out a bit.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
i thinks this does move things along a bit, but don't underestimate the ability of entrenched interests to delay the inevitable
weed will go from 'no accepted medical use' to 'medically useful, but high potential for abuse', or what ever bogus phrase they will come up with
 

zelfna90

Member
it will have to become regulated they already made this public, even if it becomes medical in all states is fine with me
 

Phenom420

Well-Known Member
Yeah sounds nice, but I'm more concerned with the possibility of martial law and the use of HR654 to jail us in FEMA camps much like the something camps the Germans used in WW2.
Lots of this stuff goes on to take our attention away from the real problem at hand....

Id love for it to go legal but we got other laws about to go in that will make this shit POINTLESS.
im talking about out constitution being thrown to the side COMPLETELY, rather than just kinda ignored.
 

NewGrowth

Well-Known Member
A doctor Woodward, representing the AMA was the only person to stand against the original marijauna stamp act. The AMA stood opposed to cannabis prohibition laws until threatened by the Interstate Narcotics Commission.

It is good to see that they are not being threatened by the federal government as much now. :clap:
 

chopper260

Active Member
yup 1 step closer to taking your attention away from the real issue like your Constitution being removed......
and the illuminati taking over and ruling the world, and the nwo taking us out of our homes at night and planes falling out of the sky, its y2k all over again :wall:
 

Phenom420

Well-Known Member
A doctor Woodward, representing the AMA was the only person to stand against the original marijauna stamp act. The AMA stood opposed to cannabis prohibition laws until threatened by the Interstate Narcotics Commission.

It is good to see that they are not being threatened by the federal government as much now. :clap:
LMFAO, koolaid tasting good?

and the illuminati taking over and ruling the world, and the nwo taking us out of our homes at night and planes falling out of the sky, its y2k all over again :wall:
I love the way you can't think for yourself and just repeat what the others say.

Im out of this thread happy growin.
 

Dirty Harry

Well-Known Member
I bet some high up heads of the AMA will get fired, new people fill their spots, and the decision will be reversed. That seems to be the current ways these days when someone says something a government doesn't like to hear.
 

Phenom420

Well-Known Member
I bet some high up heads of the AMA will get fired, new people fill their spots, and the decision will be reversed. That seems to be the current ways these days when someone says something a government doesn't like to hear.
WOW someone with their eyes open, better look out the gov doesn't like our kind....
rep in da mail sir!:peace:
 

Iron Lion Zion

Well-Known Member
WOW someone with their eyes open, better look out the gov doesn't like our kind....
rep in da mail sir!:peace:
Even so, a statement made by a highly educated, intelligent, group of doctors that represent medicine can't be ignored. Even if they did remove/replace them, they are still doctors who support cannabis. It's still a step forward no matter what happens, just how big of a step will be determined soon I suppose.
 

Phenom420

Well-Known Member
Even so, a statement made by a highly educated, intelligent, group of doctors that represent medicine can't be ignored. Even if they did remove/replace them, they are still doctors who support cannabis. It's still a step forward no matter what happens, just how big of a step will be determined soon I suppose.
Lot of good doctors are gonna do when martial law is going on, might want to read a bit.
 

420pharms

Member
just saw lou dobbs take its almost over the dust is gonna take a while to settle , the most right wing concervative and important people i know want it legal and so do the Boulderites they all see money and view my girls as harmless and wounderful I JUST HOPE THE MEDICAL VALUE GETS REALIZED
 

Phenom420

Well-Known Member
just saw lou dobbs take its almost over the dust is gonna take a while to settle , the most right wing concervative and important people i know want it legal and so do the Boulderites they all see money and view my girls as harmless and wounderful I JUST HOPE THE MEDICAL VALUE GETS REALIZED

Complete sentences? Can't get what your going on about.
 

NewGrowth

Well-Known Member
LMFAO, koolaid tasting good?

I love the way you can't think for yourself and just repeat what the others say.

Im out of this thread happy growin.
I thought you were leaving. Maybe you should educate yourself before you start acting like an ass. :peace:
 
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