The American Medical Association Decides it Likes Pot
November 11, 2009 at 8:30 PM Leave a comment
This is such good news. We are wasting so much time and money prosecuting and incarcerating people for marijuana possession. And there’s no doubt it provides relief to people with chronic pain. Bravo to the AMA. Now, if our legislators will only catch up.
In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the AMA voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana should continue to be classified under federal law as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The organization, which is the largest physician-based group in the United States, adopted a report, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH), which affirms the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana and calls for further research.
The CSAPH report concludes 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.”
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