American College of Physicians "urges review" of marijuana's legal status

[lulz]

This is pretty good news, for two reasons.

One, the American COllege of Physicians is the largest organisation of doctors for internal medicine in America (which also makes them the largest medical specialty group in the country), and for a drug to have a Class 1 shedule two of the three conditions are on medical grounds.

Two, this is a very sober call for reclassification on purely logical and ethical grounds. The ACP regularly lobby for a variety of policy changes in Washington, you can see what kind of issues they generally support here: http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/wh.../other_issues/

They just released a paper stating their position on the legal classification of marijuana, asking forcefully for a lowering from the class 1 category.

Here's the summary, link to pdf below:

Executive Summary


Marijuana has been smoked for its medicinal properties for centuries. Preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest numerous potential medical uses for marijuana. Although the indications for some conditions (e.g., HIV wasting and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting) have been well documented, less information is available about other potential medical uses. Additional research is needed to clarify marijuana’s therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana, and the debate over legalization. Marijuana’s categorization as a Schedule I controlled substance raises significant concerns for researchers, physicians, and patients. As such, the College’s policy positions on marijuana as medicine are as follows:

Position 1: ACP supports programs and funding for rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana and the publication of such findings.

Position 1a: ACP supports increased research for conditions where the efficacy of marijuana has been established to determine optimal dosage and route of delivery.

Position 1b: Medical marijuana research should not only focus on determining drug efficacy and safety but also on determining efficacy in comparison with other available treatments.

Position 2: ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of THC that have proven therapeutic value.

Position 3: ACP supports the current process for obtaining federal research-grade cannabis.

Position 4: ACP urges review of marijuana’s status as a schedule I controlled substance and its reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana’s safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions.

Position 5: ACP strongly supports exemption from federal criminal prosecution; civil liability; or professional sanctioning, such as loss of licensure or credentialing, for physicians who prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law. Similarly, ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws.

PDF - http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/wh...dmarijuana.pdf

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Awesome post. :)
	Nice to have a positive note every now and again. Thanks for sharing.

[Metomni]

Looks like sweeping changes may be on the horizon.

[enquirewithin]

By Dr. Jocelyn Elders, AlterNet. Posted March 26, 2008.


http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/80582/


A historic document from the 124,000-member American College of Physicians certifies the medical value of marijuana.

One of America's largest and most important groups of physicians has moved to cut through the clutter of political controversies over medical use of marijuana. Lawmakers and the public alike would do well to pay attention.
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second largest physician group in the United States. Its 124,000 members are doctors specializing in internal medicine and related subspecialties, including cardiology, neurology, pulmonary disease, oncology and infectious diseases. The College publishes Annals of Internal Medicine, the most widely cited medical specialty journal in the world.
In a landmark position paper released in February, these distinguished physicians are saying what many of us have been arguing for years: Most of our laws have gotten it wrong when it comes to medical marijuana, and it's time for public policy to get in step with science.
Right now, the laws of 38 states and the federal government bar use of marijuana as a medicine. Federal law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, defined as having no accepted medical use and being unsafe for use even under medical supervision.
ACP's position paper urges "reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana's safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions." The document goes on to call for protection of physicians' right to "prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law" and "strongly urges protection from civil or criminal penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws."
ACP supports its position with 10 pages of scientific documentation and references. They cite data showing relief of the nausea, vomiting and wasting that can worsen the misery of cancer, AIDS and other diseases; of the pain and tremors associated with multiple sclerosis; and for relief of pain caused by a variety of other conditions. They note that marijuana in combination with some pharmaceuticals may produce more benefit than either drug alone.
ACP calls for more research, but then adds a critical point: In some areas, the efficacy of medical marijuana has already been established, and it's time for studies designed to determine the best dose and route of delivery.
The ACP position paper demolishes several myths, starting with the notion still proclaimed by some politicians that marijuana is unsafe for medical use. The College notes that the most serious objection to medical marijuana -- potential harm to the lungs from smoking -- has largely been solved by a technology called vaporization, already proven in scientific studies.
The ACP position paper also explains that there is no reason to believe that protecting medical marijuana patients leads to increased drug abuse. "Marijuana has not been proven to be the cause or even the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse," the doctors write. "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."
This is an historic document. Large medical associations are by their nature slow, cautious creatures that move only when the evidence is overwhelming. The evidence is indeed overwhelming that, as ACP put it, there is "a clear discord" between what research tells us and what our laws say about medical marijuana.
It appears that voters and lawmakers in a number of states will consider medical marijuana proposals this year, and Congress will again be asked to stop federal attempts to interfere with the 12 state medical marijuana laws already in place. It's time to end that "clear discord" and put science ahead of politics.


Dr. Jocelyn Elders served as U.S. Surgeon General from 1993 to 1994, and is currently distinguished professor of pediatrics and public h

[Alfa]

Please upload the position paper to the file archive.

[enquirewithin]

The position paper PDF is here.

More on the paper from the LA Times:
______________________________________________

Physicians group urges easing of ban on medical marijuana. It calls on the government to drop pot's shared classification with drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value.

By Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 15, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- -- A large and respected association of physicians is calling on the federal government to ease its strict ban on marijuana as medicine and hasten research into the drug's therapeutic uses.

The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, with 124,000 members, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis.

In a 13-page position paper approved by the college's governing board of regents and posted Thursday on the group's website, the group calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse.

The declaration could put new pressure on Washington lawmakers and government regulators who for decades have rejected attempts to reclassify marijuana.

Bush administration officials have aggressively rebuffed all attempts in Congress, the courts and among law enforcement organizations to legitimize medical marijuana.

Clinical researchers say the federal government has resisted full study of the potential medical benefits of cannabis, instead pouring money into looking at its negative effects.

A dozen states including California have legalized medical marijuana, but the federal prohibition has led to an enforcement tug of war.

In California, federal agents continue to raid cannabis dispensaries, and the small cadre of physicians specializing in writing cannabis recommendations so that people can use medical marijuana has come under regulatory scrutiny.

Given the conflicts, most mainstream doctors have steered clear of medical marijuana.

The American College of Physicians' position paper calls for protection of both doctors and patients from criminal and civil penalties in states that have adopted medical-marijuana laws.

"We felt the time had come to speak up about this," said Dr. David Dale, the group's president. "We'd like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug."

Medical-marijuana advocates embraced the position paper as a watershed event that could help turn the battle in their favor.

Bruce Mirken, a San Francisco spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the ACP position is "an earthquake that's going to rattle the whole medical-marijuana debate."

The group, he said, "pulverized the government's two favorite myths about medical marijuana -- that it's not supported by the medical community and that science hasn't shown marijuana to have medical value."

But officials at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said calls for legalizing medical marijuana were misguided.

"What this would do is drag us back to 14th century medicine," said Bertha Madras, the agency's deputy director for demand reduction. "It's so arcane."

She said guidance on marijuana as medicine ought to come from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which she said is unlikely ever to approve leafy cannabis as a prescription drug.

Two oral derivatives of marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, THC, have won FDA approval, and the agency is also in the early stages of considering a marijuana spray.

An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the group's position and referred inquiries to a 2006 media advisory noting that the agency has never approved of smoked marijuana as a medical treatment

In the 12 years since California voters approved the nation's first-ever medical marijuana law, several medical organizations -- including the American Nurses Assn. and the American Public Health Assn. -- have urged Congress to make cannabis a legal medicine.

But the ACP is second in size only to the American Medical Assn., which has about 240,000 members.

The AMA has urged research into medical marijuana but opposes dropping it from Schedule I. Backers of the ACP's position expressed hope that it could help nudge the AMA to adopt a similar stance.

"This could be a sea change," said Dr. Abraham L. Halpern, a professor emeritus at New York Medical College.

Halpern said he intends to petition the AMA to endorse rescheduling marijuana and to push for changes in federal regulations that would prevent federal anti-drug agencies -- the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse -- from having virtual veto power over cannabis research.

The ACP position paper urges the use of non-smoked forms of cannabis as well as further research to identify the illnesses best treated with cannabis and the proper dosages for specific conditions.

It called for further research into cannabis as a pain reliever for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and as an aid in treatment of neurological and movement disorders such as spasticity, pain and tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries and other trauma.

But it cast doubt on marijuana's efficacy for treating epilepsy and intraocular pressure caused by glaucoma, conditions that cannabis specialists in California routinely recommend be treated with pot.

The biggest effect of the report could be symbolic.

With a presidential campaign under way, the ACP's stand could gain traction on the campaign trail or in a new administration.

"It's going to depend on how the wind is blowing -- how we the people are thinking and reacting, where we stand on this," said Dr. Jocelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

"I think we've come a long way in the last decade or so."

_________________________________________

Photo:

RELIEF: Betty Hiatt, 81, smokes medicinal marijuana at her Seattle home. Having survived cancer, Crohn's disease and the onset of Parkinson's disease, the grandmother said a few puffs each morning help quell the nausea caused by her multiple prescription drugs.

[RaverHippie]

Nice merge, I missed the original posting of the thread., only caught the duplicate more recent thread.