Mis Trabajos

Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized for Medical Use
Drug Legalization , 2011
Drug Free America Foundation, "Why Crude Marijuana Is Not Medicine," Reproduced by permission.
The Drug Free America Foundation is a nongovernmental organization committed to developing, promoting, and sustaining global strategies, policies, and laws that will reduce illegal drug use, drug addiction, and drug-relatedinjuries and death.
The controversial topic of "medical marijuana" is surrounded with confusing and contradicting information. Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. (DFAF) has studied the issue thoroughly and is committed to providing the most accurate information based on scientific and medical evidence. DFAF does not believe that crude marijuana, however, can be used safely as medicine.
Marijuanaas Medicine
Crude marijuana is considered a Schedule 1 drug, the most restrictive designation given by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) that places all drugs regulated by federal law into one of five schedules. What this means is that marijuana:
has a high potential for abuse;
has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S.;
lacks the accepted safety for use of the drug undermedical supervision;
cannot be prescribed by a doctor;
is not sold in a pharmacy; and
is in the same category as heroin, LSD and Ecstasy (MDMA).
Crude marijuana has been rejected for medicinal use by many prominent national health organizations.
Crude marijuana has been rejected for medicinal use by many prominent national health organizations including the American Medical Association,National Multiple Sclerosis Society, American Glaucoma Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Cancer Society, National Eye Institute, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke and most importantly the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Medications should be determined through scientifically valid research and the well established FDA process—not by the desires ofa small group of individuals or the public's vote. The FDA is tasked with determining what is deemed as medicine. That process has been carefully constructed over the past century to protect patient health and safety. All medications, particularly those containing controlled substances, should become available only after having satisfied the rigorous criteria of the FDA approval process. Patientsand physicians have the right to insist that prescription medications satisfy modern medical standards for quality, safety and efficacy. Such medications must be standardized by composition and dose and administered in an appropriate and safe delivery system with a reproducible dose.
The Five-Part Test for Medical Use
In Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics v. DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration]... (1994), the United States District Court for the District of Columbia accepted the Drug Enforcement Administration's five-part test for determining whether a drug meets "currently accepted medical use." The test requires that:
the drug's chemistry must be known and reproducible;
there must be adequate safety studies;
there must be adequate and well-controlled studies proving efficacy;
thedrug must be accepted by qualified experts; and
the scientific evidence must be widely available.
Applying these criteria to crude marijuana, the court found that the drug had no currently accepted medical use. Preclinical and clinical studies are necessary to provide physicians with adequate information to guide their prescribing decisions. It is quite possible that in the near future we cananticipate that cannabinoid products will undergo clinical trials for their approval, and some may reach the market. There is no reason why medications derived from the cannabis plant should be exempted from the FDA process.
Smoked Marijuana and the Pill Alternative
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