Washington, DC: At least 17 federally approved clinical and preclinical studies exploring the medical utility of smoked marijuana and/or cannabinoids are ongoing, testified National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow at a Congressional hearing yesterday before the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources.
The hearing, entitled “Marijuana and Medicine: The Need For a Science-Based Approach,” was called by Subcommittee Chair Mark Souder (R-IN), an opponent of the use of marijuana as a medicine.
Witnesses at the hearing included representatives from the state medical boards of California and Oregon, two states that have legalized the use of medical cannabis under a physician’s supervision. Both witnesses testified that because their state laws allow for physicians to recommend – not prescribe – marijuana therapy to qualified patients, the policies are not in violation of federal law. “Our Board’s role is to ensure that marijuana is recommended for medicinal uses through the same practice of medicine as any other controlled substance,” said James Scott of the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners.
They also noted that their state medical boards have had exceptionally few complaints regarding the practices of physicians who recommend marijuana as a medicine. “Since 1997, the Board has investigated a small number of physicians who have had complaints filed against them questioning their recommendation for medicinal marijuana,” explained Joan Jerzak, chief of enforcement for the Medical Board of California. “To put this into perspective, the California Board receives approximately 12,000 complaints from health care consumers each year. Of the California physicians the Board has investigated for medicinal marijuana related issues, four cases were closed; one case is still in the investigation stage; and the other four cases resulted in charges being filed.”
Only a handful of members of Congress attended the hearing, including Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who advocated decriminalizing marijuana for non-medical purposes.
“While this is an important hearing, there are far more serious matters that deserve our attention,” Norton said. “We ought not ruin a kids life by giving them a criminal record for smoking pot.”
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.