California Medical Assn. calls for legalization of marijuana

**AlteredStateGrl** · 10-17-2011, 08:46 AM

Quote:

The doctor group questions the medical value of pot and acknowledges some health risk from its use but urges it be regulated like alcohol. A law enforcement official harshly criticizes the new stance.

Reporting from Sacramento— The state's largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value.

Trustees of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide, adopted the position at their annual meeting in Anaheim late Friday. It is the first major medical association in the nation to urge legalization of the drug, according to a group spokeswoman, who said the larger membership was notified Saturday.

Dr. Donald Lyman, the Sacramento physician who wrote the group's new policy, attributed the shift to growing frustration over California's medical marijuana law, which permits cannabis use with a doctor's recommendation. That, he said, has created an untenable situation for physicians: deciding whether to give patients a substance that is illegal under federal law.

"It's an uncomfortable position for doctors," he said. "It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not. That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done. Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for."

The CMA's new stance appears to have as much to do with politics as science. The group has rejected one of the main arguments of medical marijuana advocates, declaring that the substance has few proven health benefits and comparing it to a "folk remedy."

The group acknowledges some health risk associated with marijuana use and proposes that it be regulated along the lines of alcohol and tobacco. But it says the consequences of criminalization outweigh the hazards.

Lyman says current laws have "proven to be a failed public health policy." He cited increased prison costs, the effect on families when marijuana users are imprisoned and racial inequalities in drug-sentencing cases.

The organization's announcement provoked some angry response.

"I wonder what they're smoking," said John Lovell, spokesman for the California Police Chiefs Assn. "Given everything that we know about the physiological impacts of marijuana — how it affects young brains, the number of accidents associated with driving under the influence — it's just an unbelievably irresponsible position."

The CMA's view is also controversial in the medical community.

Dr. Robert DuPont, an M.D. and professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School, said the association's call for legalization showed "a reckless disregard of the public health. I think it's going to lead to more use, and that, to me, is a public health concern. I'm not sure they've thought through what the implications of legalization would be."

Dr. Igor Grant, head of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis at UC San Diego, defended the drug's therapeutic use.

"There's good evidence that it has medicinal value," he said. "Can you say it's 100% bulletproof? No. But the research we've done at the center shows it's helpful with certain types of pain."

The federal government views cannabis as a substance with no medical use, on a par with heroin and LSD. The CMA wants the Obama administration to reclassify it to help promote further research on its medical potential.

But Washington appears to be moving in the other direction. As recently as July, the federal government turned down a request to reclassify marijuana. That decision is being appealed in federal court by legalization advocates.

In recent weeks, the Obama administration has begun cracking down on California's medical marijuana industry, threatening to prosecute landlords who rent buildings to pot dispensaries.

California's marijuana laws have eased over the last 15 years. State voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, decriminalizing it for medicinal purposes. Federal law still prohibits the sale or possession of the drug for any reason.

The CMA opposed Proposition 215, and it argues that doctors have been placed unwillingly in the center of the feud over the drug.

"When the proposition passed, we as an organized medical community got thrown into the middle of this issue, because the posture of the proposition and its proponents found that cannabis is a medicinal product that is useful for a long list of specific ailments," Lyman said.

The state has since softened its laws on even recreational use of the drug. In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that reclassified possession of less than an ounce from a misdemeanor to an infraction.

At the same time, the number of marijuana dispensaries was skyrocketing, to between 1,000 and 2,000 statewide, according to estimates by law enforcement officials. In January, the Los Angeles City Council set strict limits on pot outlets, ordering the closure of hundreds of them.

Opinion polls show that state voters continue to be in favor of medical marijuana but are divided on the question of total legalization. A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found 51% opposed to complete legalization and 46% in favor.

Last November, California voters rejected Proposition 19, which would have legalized the possession and cultivation of limited amounts of cannabis and permitted local governments to regulate it and tax sales. The CMA took no public position on the measure, its leaders said.

Across the country, physicians have called for more cannabis-related research. The CMA's parent organization, the American Medical Assn., has said the federal government should consider easing research restrictions.

Meanwhile, Lyman said, "there is considerable harm being done."

California Medical Assn. calls for legalization of marijuana - latimes.com

~1~ · 10-17-2011, 09:16 AM

Glad they're on our side but the medical laws were designed to be a dismal failure, people don't use alcohol for medicinal purposes, they want to get high.

Why does marijuana have to play this stupid game?

Because the absence of a criminal black market will negate the need for million dollar task forces and acquisition of the latest greatest war toys for our boys in blue, it would also force the DEA and other agencies to concentrate their efforts on less easily available but far more harmful drugs and then heaven forbid they actually become relevant and curb the supply.

Fuck no, that aint gonna happen, they have found their balance and they are sticking to it come hell or high water and why wouldn't they? It keeps huge quantities of cash flowing into the hands of the folks who hold actual, forceful power (the guns and armored cars and shit) and keeps them on call for the folks who are writing the checks.

**AlteredStateGrl** · 10-17-2011, 09:43 AM

The legalization of mj is going to be and always has been, a long and bumpy road. It's not just going to happen overnight, by a long shot. There are going to have to be bits and chunks chipped away here and there...and that's slowly what's happening. Having the CMA (which represents 35,000 DOCTORS) call for the legalization of mj is huge no matter what you follow it up with..ie: "why does mj have to play this stupid game?"...the point is, mj does have to play this stupid game whether it's right or not. It is what it is...or it is what they've made it. Now we just have to play smart, stand by truth and not give up and with growing numbers of the people who back it (how about thousands of medical dr.'s?), the better off the people are and the closer we get to legalization. There have been no giant steps backwards in the "legalize marijuana" push. There have been great strides made towards it and we're only getting closer. I don't have all of the answers, but it's headed the right direction and we will get there. Even with all of the "ifs, and, and buts".

The California Medical Association calls for the legalization of MJ. That's huge.

Quote:

California Medical Association Says Legalize and Regulate Marijuana

The California Medical Association, the largest physician group in California, has recently declared it will now be their official policy that marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. From the LA Times :

The state’s largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value.

Trustees of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide, adopted the position at their annual meeting in Anaheim late Friday. It is the first major medical association in the nation to urge legalization of the drug, according to a group spokeswoman, who said the larger membership was notified Saturday.

You can find the CMA press release here on their website along with the official white paper the organization used as a basis for their policy change. From the white paper :

[E]ven with regard to cannabis used recreationally, there is a need for oversight and quality control, just as there is with alcohol, tobacco, and food products. Such oversight and quality control, aimed at protecting personal and public health, can be accomplished with legalization and regulation at both the federal and state levels. Thus far, the criminalization of cannabis has proven to be a failed public health policy for several reasons, including:
a) The diversion of limited economic resources to penal system costs and away from other more socially desirable uses such as funding health care, education, transportation, etc.
b) The social destruction of family units when cannabis users are incarcerated, rather than offered treatment and other social assistance;
c) The disparate impacts that drug law enforcement practices have on communities of color
d) The continued demand for cannabis nationally, which supports violent drug cartels from Mexico and other international sources
e) The failure to decrease national and international supplies of cannabis from criminal and unregulated sources
f) The failure of the federal government‟s limited actions through the “War on Drugs” in mitigating substance abuse and addiction.

[...]

So what shifts in public policy could protect public health and benefit personal health? In order to fully evaluate and regulate cannabis, it should be legalized and decriminalized.

This is an important development for helping to advance the idea that ending the prohibition against cannabis needs to be subject to a legitimate policy debate. For marijuana to be legalized people need to stop thinking of prohibition as some unchangeable fact of life and start thinking of it as another government policy that can be amended, changed or reversed depending on what is best for society. The CMA is calling for the issue to be examined like any other public health issue with the pro’s and con’s weighted against each other.

I hope having one of the country’s largest physician groups come out in support of legalizing and regulating marijuana will encourage other medical groups, civil rights groups, and political groups to examine the issue and also come to the clear conclusion that the prohibition against marijuana is a public policy failure.

California Medical Association Says Legalize and Regulate Marijuana | Just Say Now

~1~ · 10-17-2011, 04:40 PM

35,000 doctors can be trumped by one judge who in essence will tell them that it isn't about medicinal quality, it's about the fact that marijuana is a schedule one narcotic and that isn't going to change.

The dispensaries pull in a lot of money under the guise of 'donations'. None of this money trickles directly to the city or county in the form of sales tax so now the city has to collect from property taxes and the like. A much smaller cut and then not really worth the hassle, they'll collect no matter who is in the building.

The idea is to make it look like the black market has moved above board, nothing has changed, dispensary prices are on par with street weed so hey guess what. We don't have compassionate caregivers, we have dealers with storefronts.

Which I have zero problems with by the way but it is in no way a free market, therefore it will not regulate and again that is by design. Need to keep prices jacked up to show that someone is making money and not paying their 'fair share' (hows them buzz words for ya)

So we tried the medical marijuana bullshit and unsurprisingly it will fail and believe it or not, will set back the cause. "Oh those silly pot heads..." Fuck that shit, I am not a silly pot head.

In the words of Doug Stanhope "You wanna waste twenty years so Milky Eyed Jim can get a bong hit of government subsidized dirt weed. I wanna buy mushrooms at WalMart TOMORROW! I think we oughta fight this one out..."

It's also bigger than just the weed, if a state can find their way out of the hole by not buying the hundred years of racist propaganda forced on us by the purchased feds, then fuckin' aye go head on.

Edit: I'm not looking to throw shit on the movement, now we need to kick the fucking door in and go all the way. Get on with it!

10-17-2011, 09:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
~1~ Successful Failure Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: where 'they' can't see. Posts: 10,925 Thanks: 466 Thanked 1,581 Times in 925 Posts	Glad they're on our side but the medical laws were designed to be a dismal failure, people don't use alcohol for medicinal purposes, they want to get high. Why does marijuana have to play this stupid game? Because the absence of a criminal black market will negate the need for million dollar task forces and acquisition of the latest greatest war toys for our boys in blue, it would also force the DEA and other agencies to concentrate their efforts on less easily available but far more harmful drugs and then heaven forbid they actually become relevant and curb the supply. Fuck no, that aint gonna happen, they have found their balance and they are sticking to it come hell or high water and why wouldn't they? It keeps huge quantities of cash flowing into the hands of the folks who hold actual, forceful power (the guns and armored cars and shit) and keeps them on call for the folks who are writing the checks. __________________ "And those who are successful, be always on your guard. Success walks hand in hand with failure, along Hollywood Boulevard" Ray Davies --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Click Here Asshole

10-17-2011, 04:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
~1~ Successful Failure Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: where 'they' can't see. Posts: 10,925 Thanks: 466 Thanked 1,581 Times in 925 Posts	35,000 doctors can be trumped by one judge who in essence will tell them that it isn't about medicinal quality, it's about the fact that marijuana is a schedule one narcotic and that isn't going to change. The dispensaries pull in a lot of money under the guise of 'donations'. None of this money trickles directly to the city or county in the form of sales tax so now the city has to collect from property taxes and the like. A much smaller cut and then not really worth the hassle, they'll collect no matter who is in the building. The idea is to make it look like the black market has moved above board, nothing has changed, dispensary prices are on par with street weed so hey guess what. We don't have compassionate caregivers, we have dealers with storefronts. Which I have zero problems with by the way but it is in no way a free market, therefore it will not regulate and again that is by design. Need to keep prices jacked up to show that someone is making money and not paying their 'fair share' (hows them buzz words for ya) So we tried the medical marijuana bullshit and unsurprisingly it will fail and believe it or not, will set back the cause. "Oh those silly pot heads..." Fuck that shit, I am not a silly pot head. In the words of Doug Stanhope "You wanna waste twenty years so Milky Eyed Jim can get a bong hit of government subsidized dirt weed. I wanna buy mushrooms at WalMart TOMORROW! I think we oughta fight this one out..." It's also bigger than just the weed, if a state can find their way out of the hole by not buying the hundred years of racist propaganda forced on us by the purchased feds, then fuckin' aye go head on. Edit: I'm not looking to throw shit on the movement, now we need to kick the fucking door in and go all the way. Get on with it! __________________ "And those who are successful, be always on your guard. Success walks hand in hand with failure, along Hollywood Boulevard" Ray Davies --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Click Here Asshole Last edited by ~1~; 10-17-2011 at 04:52 PM.

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