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“They’ve said essentially that the federal government has it all wrong,”
This subject touches me espcially since I know first hand the benifits of MJ used on so called "terminally ill" patients.
| quote: | Internists Tell Feds to Lighten Up on Marijuana
Ease off on marijuana, a national doctor group is telling the feds.
The American College of Physicians, 124,000 members strong, has issued a 13-page position paper asking the federal government to drop marijuana from its classification as a substance considered to have no medicinal value and a high chance of abuse, reports the Baltimore Sun. (Read this Health Blog post for one doctor’s high opinion of medical marijuana.)
“They’ve said essentially that the federal government has it all wrong,” Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, told the Health Blog. The ACP, which represents internists, is the largest physician group to date to ask for such a classification change, he says.
PDFThe Sun reports that the ACP’s declaration could pressure legislators and regulators to consider pushing for the schedule change. The federal government thus far has resisted fully exploring the medical benefits of marijuana, but a dozen states have legalized medical use. The ACP paper makes a broad case for easing restrictions on marijuana research and says that doctors and patients in these states where medical marijuana is legal shouldn’t be penalized under federal law. (Click on PDF image to read the position paper.)
But at least some in the government disagree vehemently with the idea of legalizing medical marijuana. “What this would do is drag us back to 14th-century medicine,” Berta Madras, the deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told the Sun. “It’s so arcane.”
Marijuana image via Wikimedia Commons
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Someone very dear to me was being eaten alive by chemotherapy and the related "life" saving drugs that were given to her..... From a healthy happy woman to a thin toothpick. Nothing helped her and we all knew the chemotherapy was killing her. I made some butter and well, along with the treatments and using butter in all of her cooking, she regained her health and beat the odds....even a pack full of Drs told her that MJ saved her life. They gave her only 6 months...but after the treatment..well that was damn near 15years ago, she is still with me.
It irks me that the US is so ass backwards with its views toward MJ.
| quote: | Doctor of the Day: David Bearman, Cannabinoidologist
Posted by Heather Won Tesoriero
Dispensing medical marijuana is a tricky business, and the WSJ takes a look at how pot shops have stirred things up in tony Santa Barbara, Calif.
Cannabis is sometimes used to relieve pain or improve appetite for a host of conditions, ranging from multiple sclerosis to cancer. One big problem: It’s illegal.
So Californians passed Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing the medical use of marijuana. Seven years later the legislators specified details needed to make it practical, such as who was a caregiver and how much weed was OK. Oh, there was another problem: Prescriptions can only be written for FDA-approved medications. So California dealt with that by requiring patients to get a “doctor’s recommendation” to obtain medical marijuana. Finally, even after all those legal gymnastics, it remains that medical marijuana use violates federal law. So those California dispensaries that are legal under the state’s law run the risk of raids by G-men.
Some California doctors don’t believe in medical marijuana use. Some others who do but want to stay out of the legal fray send their patients to David Bearman (pictured). Since 2001, he’s devoted his entire practice to medical marijuana patients, and describes himself as a cannabinoidologist. He also serves from time to time as an expert witness. (Previously, Bearman held a number of appointments in public health.) He treated “no respect” comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who gave a nod to the doctor in his 2004 book, “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me.”
The Health Blog sat down with Bearman in his office in Goleta, Calif. to talk about medical marijuana. Here’s some of what he had to say.
“I became aware that cannabis had some medicinal value about 45 years ago, although it took me about 20 years to fully appreciate that,” he told us. According to Bearman, his father was a pharmacist who was assigned to create tincture of cannabis during his training and went on to dispense cannabis products. But for years, Bearman said that he, “like many people believed that manufactured medications had to be better than natural ones.”
He relies on word-of-mouth and referrals from fellow physicians for patients. Bearman said he screens prospective patients pretty rigorously by phone before deciding to grant an appointment. They’re asked what diagnosis they’ve been given, how it’s been treated and the last time they’ve seen a medical provider. “There’s no sense in making an appointment for someone who’s not going to qualify for the medicinal use of cannabis,” he said.
For those who aren’t weeded out, he charges $250 for an initial hour-long visit and $200 for follow-ups. He doesn’t accept insurance. Bearman is steadfast in his belief that marijuana is a legitimate medical option for many conditions. “It’s one of the safest therapeutic agents to man,” he said. But, he acknowledges that some people, being human, use it “inappropriately.”
The doctor got into a tussle with the Medical Board of California a few years ago for refusing to release medical records of a patient who got into legal trouble for possessing marijuana. The state court sided with the medical board, but an appellate court overturned the ruling, saying that Bearman had a responsibility to protect a patient’s right to privacy.
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