cannabisnews.com: American Medical Association Making Right Moves
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American Medical Association Making Right Moves
Posted by CN Staff on November 15, 2009 at 05:35:28 PT
Editorial
Source: Times-Standard
USA -- It seems strange that we are just now, in the 21st century, applauding a call by the American Medical Association to see marijuana classified as something other than a Schedule 1 controlled substance, in the same category as heroin, ecstasy and LSD. The association believes the change would allow scientists and medical professionals to begin much more rigorous testing of the drug to determine once and for all what its medicinal benefits might be.
We congratulate the AMA on taking the stance and hope the federal government listens to the advice of doctors and reclassifies the drug. Across the board, marijuana seems to be gaining more and more cultural acceptance as a medicine, as is evident through the increased number of states whose voters have decided to legalize it as such. The problem, however, is that we continue to operate in the dark. The drug's classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance means it is enormously difficult to study its true medicinal properties, and so voters are approving medical marijuana reform laws based on anecdotal evidence, or because they believe such reforms are baby steps toward what they see as the ultimate and necessary reform -- total legalization. By reclassifying the drug as something other than the worst of the worst, medical professionals would be able to dig in and find out what properties of marijuana are good for patients, and whether as a whole it justifies being treated as a medicine. By taking this bold stance, the AMA may just provide the impetus necessary to rid the issue of the paranoia and confusion that's plagued it for so many years and put the country on a path toward a rational and coherent marijuana policy. Similarly, we also applaud the AMA for taking the stance recently that same-sex marriage bans translate into health care disparities, and for openly opposing the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy on gays in the military. In both of these issues, we see our nation's scientists and medical professionals say enough is enough on issues that up until now have been handled with a lack of logic and too much emotion. It's about time. Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)Published: November 15, 2009Copyright: 2009 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: editor times-standard.comWebsite: http://www.times-standard.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/fY4sUZKbCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 15, 2009 at 09:10:12 PT
Wanda Sykes and Marijuana
We turned the channel last night to her show and they were talking about marijuana and dispensaries. I can't find a video but maybe one will show up on Youtube soon.
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