Government-Sponsored Study Destroys DEA's Classification of Marijuana as 'Medically Useless'


The DEA classifies marijuana as having no medical uses, but a government-sponsored study concludes that the miracle drug is much needed for many patients.


By Stephen C. Webster /Raw Story
July 3, 2012 |


A government-sponsored study published this month in The Open Neurology Journal concludes that marijuana provides much-needed relief to some chronic pain sufferers and that more clinical trials are desperately needed, utterly destroying the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) classification of the drug as having no medical uses.

While numerous prior studies have shown marijuana’s usefulness for a host of medical conditions, none have ever gone directly at the DEA’s placement of marijuana atop the schedule of controlled substances. This study, sponsored by the State of California and conducted at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, does precisely that, driving a stake into the heart of America’s continued war on marijuana users by calling the Schedule I placement simply “not accurate” and “not tenable.”

Reacting to the study, Paul Armentano, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told Raw Story that the study clearly proves U.S. drug policy “is neither based upon nor guided by science.”

“In fact, it is hostile to science,” he said. “And despite the Obama Administration’s well publicized 2009 memo stating, ‘Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration,’ there is little to no evidence indicating that the federal government’s ‘See no evil; hear no evil’ approach to cannabis policy is not changing any time soon.”

Schedule I is supposedly reserved for the most inebriating substances that have no medical value, like LSD, ecstasy, peyote and heroin. As the DEA describes it: “Drugs listed in schedule I have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and, therefore, may not be prescribed, administered, or dispensed for medical use. In contrast, drugs listed in schedules II-V have some accepted medical use and may be prescribed, administered, or dispensed for medical use.”

And that’s the problem, the study’s authors portend.

“The classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug as well as the continuing controversy as to whether or not cannabis is of medical value are obstacles to medical progress in this area,” they wrote. “Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking. It is true cannabis has some abuse potential, but its profile more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III (where codeine and dronabinol are listed). The continuing conflict between scientific evidence and political ideology will hopefully be reconciled in a judicious manner.”

They add that their evidence showed marijuana reliably reduced chronic neuropathic pain and muscle spasticity due to multiple sclerosis versus trials where a placebo was used. They also specifically tested marijuana’s effects when smoked, calling the delivery method “rapid and efficient” but noting that vaporization is a better choice because it produces less carbon monoxide.

The study adds that, like all medicines, there are negative side effects associated with marijuana, such as dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness, muscle weakness and pain and heart palpitations — all of which can pose a risk in some chronic pain patients with co-occurring conditions like cardiovascular disease or substance abuse disorders. However, they call these side effects “dose-related” and “of mild to moderate severity,” adding that they “appear to decline over time, and are reported less frequently in experienced than in naïve users.” Researchers also noted that “fatal overdose with cannabis alone has not been reported.”

Authors additionally found that marijuana does cause withdrawal symptoms within 12 hours of use, noting the symptoms are mild in experienced users and typically abate within 72 hours. They added that ingesting marijuana “can acutely impair skills required to drive motor vehicles,” but noted that the data on marijuana and traffic accidents is “inconclusive.”

Ultimately, they concluded that more clinical trials are needed to determine which individual components of the marijuana plant are causing the medicinal effects, and whether the plant can be used to treat a host of other ailments.

“Medical marijuana is mostly used for chronic pain, and has enabled countless patients to either reduce or eliminate their pharmaceutical drug regimen,” Kris Hermes, a spokesman forAmericans for Safe Access (ASA), one of the nation’s leading medical marijuana advocacy groups, told Raw Story. “However, it can also be used for: arthritis, nausea or as an appetite stimulant for people living with HIV/AIDS or cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, and movement disorders (not just for people with multiple sclerosis). That is only a sampling of health conditions for which cannabis has been found helpful in alleviating symptoms. Other health conditions include: [post-traumatic stress disorder], [attention deficit disorder], [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and other mental health conditions, glaucoma, and migraines.”

In hopes of forcing recognition of marijuana’s medical value, ASA sued the federal government last year after a long-running appeal for the reclassification of marijuana was shot down nearly a decade after it was filed. That case should go before the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit later this year.

“The federal government’s strategy has been delay, delay, delay,” ASA chief counsel Joe Elford said in an advisory. “It is far past time for the government to answer our rescheduling petition, but unfortunately we’ve been forced to go to court in order to get resolution.”

“Reform advocates can and should use this study to show their congressional representatives that our country’s leading medical marijuana researchers agree that it should be reclassified,” Hermes added. “…This certainly should also have a bearing on the D.C. Circuit’s deliberations in the appeal of the rescheduling petition denial.”

Medical marijuana is currently legal in just 17 states and Washington, D.C.


AlterNet


Stephen C. Webster is the senior editor of Raw Story, and is based out of Austin, Texas. He previously worked as the associate editor of The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford, Texas, where he covered state politics and the peace movement’s resurgence at the start of the Iraq war. Webster has also contributed to publications such as True/Slant, Austin Monthly, The Dallas Business Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Weekly, The News Connection and others. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenCWebster.









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See your ad here!

You got too much of the extra stuff. Mind editing a little to make it not much a mess to read? Thank you! :-)

You know if Eddie does that someone will be screaming that he edited out everything he didn't like. Take a little time put forth the effort to read or spend the time searching and posting what you want yourself.

Mea Culpa!!

I was careless and didn't check for the stuff that was trailing the article I wanted to post. I've made the same mistake before although it has been a while.

Thanks for the reminder; I will try not to do it again.

At this point I cannot edit the post and I wish that I could!!

Still it is an article that is well worth reading!!!!!!!!

New Study, Leading Researcher: Federal Marijuana Classification Not Tenable


By Steve Elliott
Monday, July 9, 2012



Potfessor.com


Director of cannabis research center says classification and political controversy are "obstacles to medical progress"

Dr. Igor Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR), and two other investigators published a study in the most recent issue of The Open Neurology Journal, which concluded that the Schedule I classification of marijuana is "not tenable." The study further concluded that, "it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking."

The study urges additional research, but states that marijuana's federal classification and its political controversy are "obstacles to medical progress in this area." The federal classification of marijuana is based on the government's position that it has "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."



UC San Diego

CMCR, based at the University of California San Diego, has overseen some of the most extensive research on the therapeutic effects of medical marijuana in the U.S. The research center pointed out that, "Control of nausea and vomiting and the promotion of weight gain in chronic inanition are already licensed uses of oral THC (dronabinol capsules)," and that recent research indicates "cannabis may also be effective in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathy and muscle spasticity from conditions such as multiple sclerosis."

The CMCR was established by the California legislature in 1999 and initially funded with a $1 million grant.

"Patient advocates applaud these findings from the country's top medical marijuana researchers," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana advocacy group. "With the backing of such strongly worded recommendations, patients remain hopeful that the federal government will recognize the science and reclassify marijuana."

However, discontent with simply waiting, ASA and other advocates filed a lawsuit earlier this year that is currently pending before the D.C. Circuit. The suit challenges a July 2011 denial by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of a nine-year-old petition to reschedule marijuana. That appeal will likely be heard by the D.C Circuit sometime this fall.



YouTube

Over the past decade, the CMCR has completed 13 studies on medical marijuana, making it the foremost research center in the country. Unlike other marijuana studies, which all require the approval of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the CMCR conducts research on smoked and vaporized marijuana in particular.

Through its research, the CMCR has found that smoked and vaporized medical marijuana can be beneficial to people living with cancer and HIV, as well as chronic pain due to a variety of health conditions. These studies have been peer-reviewed and published, but the federal government continues to ignore their findings.

Although the recent Open Neurology study says that cannabis has "some abuse potential," the study also says its profile "more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III (where codeine and dronabinol are listed)." The study goes on to say that any adverse effects are generally "dose-related," are of "mild to moderate severity," and "appear to decline over time."

Unlike other pharmaceutical medication, no reports of fatal overdoses from medical marijuana have ever been reported, researchers said. Ironically, the study comes only two weeks after DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart testified before a House oversight hearing and argued that there was no difference between harm from marijuana and harm from other Schedule I substances like heroin and methamphetamine.

In addition to the lawsuit against the Obama Administration challenging the classification of marijuana, there is a bill pending in Congress, HR 1983, which also calls for rescheduling. Frustrated by the federal government's position, the governors of four states (Colorado, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) similarly petitioned the Obama Administration in late 2011 to reschedule marijuana for medical use.

For More Information

Medical marijuana study in The Open Neurology Journal [PDF]

UC Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research

Pending ASA lawsuit appeal on rescheduling [PDF]



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