Groundbreaking marijuana policy spearheaded by UW student
Nov 29, 2009 Online Issue
Marijuana has long been classified as a dangerous drug with no medical benefits. But thanks in part to the work of a University of Washington medical 
student, a major medical association this week urged the federal government to reconsider.
“It’s a huge shift on medical ideology,” said Sunil Aggarwal, who’s been studying the medical uses of marijuana for 10 years. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was an undergraduate and found out that marijuana wasn’t a horribly dangerous thing.”
Since 1997, the American Medical Association has taken a hard line against the drug, endorsing its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance — the most restrictive category — and asserting its lack of medical value. Aggarwal’s research, published in his dissertation and in two articles in the Journal of Opioid Management — helped convince AMA members that the drug has potential.
“It’s a huge shift on medical ideology,” said Sunil Aggarwal, who’s been studying the medical uses of marijuana for 10 years. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was an undergraduate and found out that marijuana wasn’t a horribly dangerous thing.”
Since 1997, the American Medical Association has taken a hard line against the drug, endorsing its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance — the most restrictive category — and asserting its lack of medical value. Aggarwal’s research, published in his dissertation and in two articles in the Journal of Opioid Management — helped convince AMA members that the drug has potential.
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AMA Endorses Medicinal Marijuana: Unexpected Policy Shift Boosts Support for Medicinal Benefits
Nov 15, 2009 Online Issue
On Tuesday, the movement for Medicinal Marijuana received an unexpected endorsement from the American Medical Association.
This marks a substantial policy shift for the AMA, which contains approximately 250,000 member doctors, making it, by far, the largest and most influential association of doctors in the United States.
Their decision to shift policies is especially significant, since the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I substance, meaning that it should continue to be considered by the Federal Government to have no medicinal value and to be dangerous and addictive.
Substances such as LSD and PCP share this category, but even ampehetamines and cocaine are classified as Schedule II substances, since both have recognized medicinal properties.
AMA Report Recognizes Medical Benefits of Marijuana, Urges Further Research
Nov 15, 2009 Online Issue
Houston, TX — The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a 
Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”
The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June of 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I substance. In the past year, the AMA has considered three resolutions dealing with medical marijuana, which also helped to influence the report and its recommendations. The AMA vote on the report took place in Houston, Texas during the organization’s annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates. The last AMA position, adopted 8 years ago, called for maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance, with no medical value.
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The American Medical Association Reconsiders Marijuana. Will The Justice Department Follow? (No.)
Nov 15, 2009 Online Issue
More than 100 million Americans have smoked pot. Thirteen states have medical marijuana laws on the books, and a dozen more 
are considering legislation. Studies have shown that the substance can reduce nausea, ease muscle spasms and pain.
Yet since 1970, when Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substance Act into law, the time-slowing green plant known as marijuana has been a Schedule 1 controlled substance: classified alongside drugs like heroin and PCP—and deemed more harmful than cocaine, meth, and Ketamine. Pot advocates refer to that reality as the “Schedule I lie” —referring to the drug’s federal classification as the most potent of drugs, considered, by law, to have “no accepted medical use.”
The idea that a few tokes every now and then is more harmful than the recreational use of dog tranquilizer seems somewhat ridiculous considering its mainstream acceptance. Barack Obama has openly admitted to smoking pot; Michael Phelps clearly loves it; and earlier this year, attorney general Eric Holder discouraged U.S. attorneys from prosecuting retailers in medical marijuana states. There are pot TV shows and cities that are now taxing the drug’s medicinal use to bring in extra revenue.
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