Well designed clinical trials are necessary to properly determine marijuana’s medical effectiveness, states the April 7 editorial in American Medical News, a newspaper of the American Medical Association (AMA).
Citing interest from the medical establishment and majority support from the public regarding the use of marijuana as a medicine, the editorial calls on the federal government to permit and fund clinical tests on the subject. “Current curiosity over [this issue] will not fade away, regardless of how much the administration may hope it might,” states the AMA. “Well-designed clinical tests … are what’s needed. …The sooner researchers start on this course the better.”
“Ultimately, the federal government will have to sponsor the demonstration of marijuana’s clinical efficacy,” said NORML Board Member Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School. Grinspoon said that marijuana’s safety is already well-established, but argued for clinical trials to determine more precisely which ailments could be best alleviated by the drug’s use.
The AMA states that it has called for such medical marijuana trials “for years.”