The American Medical Association (AMA) backed a doctor’s right to discuss marijuana therapy with a patient, and urged the federal government to facilitate medical marijuana research studies, at a Tuesday policy-making meeting in Dallas.
“The AMA believes that effective patient care requires the free and unfettered exchange of information on treatment alternatives and that discussion of these alternatives between physicians and patients should not subject either party to criminal sanctions,” the House of Delegates resolved. Earlier this year, federal officials threatened to arrest physicians who recommended the use of marijuana to seriously ill patients under state law.
The AMA delegates also urged the federal government to provide “sufficient funding” for clinical research on medical marijuana, and “access for qualified investigators to adequate supplies of marijuana” for the studies. This recommendation parallels a conclusion reached by a National Institute of Health (NIH) working group in August.
Throughout the mid 1990’s, many medical marijuana proponents have criticized the federal government for blocking research to better determine marijuana’s medical value. A 1992 proposal comparing the effectiveness of inhaled marijuana with that of synthetic THC as a treatment for the weight loss associated with the AIDS wasting syndrome was rejected on three separate occasions by federal officials. NIH finally approved a revised version of the protocol in 1997, but only
after researchers agreed to focus on determining the potential short-term harmful effects of marijuana on HIV-positive patients. Similarly, two recent state proposals submitted by the Massachusetts and Washington state boards of health regarding medical marijuana research have been delayed indefinitely while awaiting federal approval. Earlier this year, NIH officials rejected a scientific proposal submitted by a team of researchers from the Western Montana Clinic in Missoula to examine the use of marijuana in acute migraine treatment.
“Hopefully, the AMA’s call for medical marijuana research will not go unheard by those in Washington currently impeding such studies from taking place,” NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said.
The AMA Council on Scientific Affairs also released a report on Tuesday acknowledging that scientific clinical data exists demonstrating marijuana’s medical utility in the treatment of serious diseases like AIDS wasting syndrome and spasticity disorders. However, a member of the
AMA’s board of trustees, John Nelson, said that the organization does not expect to advocate the legalization of medical marijuana until additional clinical research is conducted.
“If [marijuana’s medical value] was ever proven [conclusively], we would be vocal in trying to change the law,” Nelson said.
Besides the AMA, national and international medical groups such as the British Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Public Health Association, the Federation of American Scientists, and the California Medical Association have recently called for substantive scientific studies on marijuana’s medical properties.
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. A listing of organizations favoring medical marijuana research and/or access is available from The NORML Foundation upon request.