MARIJUANA AND THE AMA

For all the debate over whether marijuana has medicinal value,
arguments that the drug has significant palliative properties or that
it has none suffer from the same flaw: There's little scientific
proof either way.

This lack of conclusive evidence isn't accidental. In 1970, Congress
passed the Controlled Substances Act, classifying marijuana -- which
had been illegal since 1937 -- as a Schedule I drug, which meant that
it had a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. In keeping
with this position, the government has allowed only the University of
Mississippi to cultivate research-grade marijuana, and has so
restricted access to its small supply that determining the drug's
efficacy is for all intents and purposes impossible.

So patients' advocates celebrated last week when the nation's largest
physicians organization, the American Medical Assn., recommended that
marijuana's schedule classification be reviewed for the purpose of
facilitating research and the "development of cannabinoid-based
medicines." It was indeed good news.

But hold the brownies. Although the AMA reversed a long-held
position, it also issued a series of caveats: The change does not
mean the organization supports state-sanctioned medical marijuana
programs. It should not suggest that cannabis meets the standard set
for prescription drugs. Nor is this an indication that the
organization advocates legalization. Moreover, it has specifically
rejected language calling for marijuana to be rescheduled.

That medical marijuana is becoming more acceptable to the mainstream
is undeniable -- 13 states now permit its use -- but ideally, major
healthcare policy shouldn't be enacted by popular opinion. In that
light, the AMA's recommendation is all the more powerful for its restraint.

In 1913, California became the first state to outlaw marijuana, and
in 1996, it became the first to approve it for medical use. We have
been supportive of the California Compassionate Use Act, but we have
been equally vocal about the need for research. Small studies suggest
that cannabis relieves nerve pain in HIV patients, mitigates migraine
headaches, reduces ocular hypertension in glaucoma patients and is
effective against various forms of severe, chronic pain. The states
that have legalized the drug's use for medicinal purposes have done
so on the basis of a small body of research and a large amount of
anecdotal evidence, but more facts are needed. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration should heed the doctors' orders on this matter and
open the way to scientific investigation.