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AMA Advocates Medical Marijuana
Eric Risberg / AP Photo
Medical marijuana got a huge boost on Tuesday when the American Medical Association—the nation's largest physicians' organization—urged the federal government to loosen the classification of marijuana, which is currently a Schedule I controlled substance. Other drugs classed as Schedule I, the most restrictive of the federal government's five schedules, include heroin and LSD. The AMA's goal in changing its policy is to clear the way for clinical research, development of marijuana-based medicines, and creation of alternate ways to deliver the drug.
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Demsdisorder
I hope they do it. who is the government to tell us we cant do anything.
hockeydog
Dems, you is right. But isn't it kind of interesting that we think of "them" as doing something, as if "they" are in charge of making the rules for "us".
I have, as a sort of cherished artifact, a LIFE magazine from 1971, which features a smoldering joint of cannabis on the cover. The gist of the magazine's articles were that marijuana should no longer be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, and instead should be either legalized, or decriminalized.
In the meantime, during these intervening thirty, forty years "THEY" still have repressive laws that ruin lives for both smoking and/or growing something that grows all by itself in nature.
Just think back, and I will bet you know at least one person, whose life has been ruined because they were caught with a joint.
Meanwhile, the banksters continue runnning our financial show, the House of Lards, and our Lesser House of Lards in Congress continue selling their souls, and the interests of the American people to serve the corporate world. We continue having a Big Dog in the white columned mansion who either invades other nations, or perpetuates the destruction caused by other, prior Big Dogs...,
So, maybe change is supposed to be slow and incremental, but these draconian laws regulating marijuana and its endorphins belong in a different country, a country more like the old Soviet Union than the United States of this here America.
flux88mph
I'm with both of you guys....... I'm still looking at two years probation and about $2,500 in fees for classes that i have to take along side people who have herion addictions and people who have committed vehicular mansluaghter because they had 10 drinks to many.
I've actually never enjoyed drinking..... I only smoke weed. Partly becuase if i get stoned and pass out, I wake up in the morning feeling like a million bucks. While people who drink alot and pass out are likely not to feel as good as i am smoking weed before i go to bed.
Oh btw the other part of me smoking weed instead of drinking, is because weed can't kill me if smoke an ounce in one sitting. Now if I drank a liter of FUCKING VODKA, what do you think would happen?
Thank you AMA, keep up the common sense.
galeso
dems said "who is the government to tell us we cant do anything." Make that anything that does not harm others and I am with you 100%.
Garrison
And some Okie Counties in California are still fighting the "Pot" legalities.
Shasta County, Tehama, Modoc for instance.
srexley
You might be careful what you ask for. What if the AMA does the studies, and then determines pot really does not have much medical use? Or defines it for the few (and extreme) things it really may help, like wasting from cancer/chemo?
I have yet to meet a regular doctor who does not think one is a bit of a dolt to smoke pot every day. It doesn't "cure" anything, And leads to laziness, red (dry) eyes and congestive lung issues. It is fun to get high, but it is not health giving medicine.
nortonclybourn
Echinacea and zinc were shown to be ineffective in clinical trials, but there are not multiple government agencies devoted to making a federal case out of it if you want to try it. Anti-pot enforcement goes to near top of my list of government Waste Fraud and Abuse, right after the CIA.
sonofloud
One of my old teachers used to say, "Everything is legal, you can only make things illegal".
nativetears
Very simply put, take the money we as a society spend, in taxes, locking people up, investigating, and prosecuting for smoking pot and, in turn, use the resources in combatting sexual predators. As it stands now, a first time sex offender faces less jail time than someone caught "distributing" an ounce of marijuana in my state-oklahoma. As for medical use, i have ADD. In college, the meds simply did not work-the side effects are horrible. I began smoking, in moderation, and watched my g.p.a. move from a 2.6 to a3.31 when i finished. A fond memory is setting the curve on a cell and molecular biology test really "stoned" on some nice kind bud...or doing the same on an ichthyology final with mostly grad students while was still an undergrad. Before, i was not focused enough to follow through with my studies. This glorious plant slowed me down just enough to succeed in school for the first time in my life. btw, I'm 33 now, smoke everyday, can still run 4 miles, dunk a basketball, etc...and i haven't robbed any little old ladies to buy my pot. i will happily pay a tax to do this legally. Wake up conservatives, you've got it backwards.
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n--Y--squareyellowpaperoliverckerr
Very funny. What a pleasing page. Normal posters. Visit the new and improved
michaelslevinson.com
nortonclybourn
And of course it is perfectly legal to grow opium poppies in the US, although opium derivatives are deadly toxic, and there is no lethal dose of cannabis.
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n--Y--squareyellowpapermredder4
"Toking up"? Seriously? I thought this was an adult news site, not some frat house using the most infantile terminology. Grow up, Daily Beast, and stop degrading the discussion by using idiotic phrases like "toking up" to describe the actions of the AMA, especially when they specifically advocate for research into a non-smoking delivery method.
hfb1053
Oh, grow up yourself. What are you, Dad of the site?
Nonplussed
Legalize it!
First the endorsement of the House health care bill and now this -- AMA is on my good list today.
DocHumboldt
In addition to "toking up", one may: Brew tea, make brownies, meld with butter, vaporize, etc., etc.. Who cares how the substance is ingested or by what antiquated hipster terminology comes the description of that ingestion? It's more of a personal preference than a "prescribed method of delivery" thing. My favorite Beatnik era term for said ingestion, by the way, is: "roast a muggle". There are hundreds of others...Americans love their colloquialisms.
TheAlabamaRambler
The phrase I most remember is "Twist one up and let's get stupid"... probably not a phrase you'll see the pro-drug use in print!
MajorRevisions
It's better than "let's DO something stupid like (so many to chose from, oh I know) let's create "investment vehicles" backed by mortgages because real estate values will never go down, it's not in our program so it has to be correct and make it so complicated that we're the only ones to understand it because real estate never goes down so there is no way to lose but just in case we'll insure the investments but we won't call it insurance but something like "credit default swaps" because I'm not even sure what the hell it is but everyone will be making money, forever, for everyone. What could go wrong?
pricklypear
Veddddy interestingk.
spotted
First endorsing insurance reform, and now spliff . . . it's certainly not your father's AMA.
The next thing you know, the AMA will be asking to increase med school admissions.
TheAlabamaRambler
Aren't drunk drivers enough of a crisis in our nation... now we want medical patients driving around stoned? Personally I prefer dope to alcohol hands down... and ending this silly 'war on drugs' can't come too soon for our nation's young (and economy), but I don't want wasted drivers anywhere near me on the road. Been there, done that, got the wheelchair to prove it!
Wolftoons
Sorry to hear about your accident, but I live in the state of Florida, were marijuana is highly illegal, yet synthetic heroin (roxicet, oxycontin, codeine) is not only legal, but dispensed by quacks at "pain clinics" to any person that claims they are in pain.. these people are driving around all day under the influence of opiates and I think they pose a serious threat to the safety of others.. If a person gets pulled over under the influence of ANY drug they should be dealt with accordingly, and charged with DUI. Decriminalizing pot will not lead to more people driving under the influence, nor will it alter the number or marijuana users.
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n--Y--squareyellowpaperwrathofkhan
I drive better when I'm stoned. I drive the speed limit and don't get angry at all the aggressive assholes around me. This nation would be a better place with legalized marijuana. Marijuana is barely more physically impairing than caffeine.
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n--Y--cvillekidDemsdisorder
its a weed who cares what people do with it. but,do we need to tax it?
manticore1223
This is why we don't listen to the AMA anymore.....
perezp
Yeah! Instead I'm going to get all of my medical advice from... oh, never mind.
Demsdisorder
Any other Doctor would work considering most Docs aren't members. AMA is crap
hfb1053
I am all for the legalization of pot whether it's medical or recreational. As previously mentioned here, it's just a weed and not nearly as harmful or deadly as alcohol or pharma.
Mikell
Is it just me...or does anyone else think this is really just a way of "boosting" profits for pharmaceutical companies that would love to have this new legal product to promote? QUOTE: "In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug."
Legalize it...but allow the herb to be grown and used without restrictions.
AlanD2
If we would decriminalized marijuana and pardon all people convicted of crimes involving it (use or selling), we could cut our prison population in half and save tens of billions of dollars a year.
Seems worth while to me...
Though I doubt the prison guards union would agree.
Mauiboy
Excellent point!
Leprekike
A friend of mine who died of throat cancer in 2005 said that one of the few things that relieved his nausea and discomfort from his chemo treatments was Marinol, a drug derived from marijuana. People have been using some form of cannabis for medical treatment for THOUSANDS of years, and only in the last century did governments place serious prohibitions on it. Our own government only did it to appease the alcohol industy after alcohol prohibition ended, and used racism and prejudice to instill an inordinate fear into the general public for compliance. While it would seem to be a step in the right direction for the AMA to request this, one does have to consider that the drug companies would benefit more than any other group, and law enforcement organizations would still benefit from the exorbitant funding they already receive to 'combat' its use. Even if the request is granted, it might still be a very long time before the marijuana laws are repealed, despite any truths regarding the plant's effects or usage. If you want to understand more fully the place marijuana could hold in our society, find the NORML or Marijuana Policy Project websites.
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