CMA Calls for Decriminalization, Regulation, and Taxation of Cannabis October 17, 2011 Advocacy, CMA, News, Public Health, SFMS Member CMA, Legalization of cannabis, marijuana, regulation of cannabis, SFMS resolution 0 The California Medical Association (CMA) has adopted official policy that recommends legalization and regulation of cannabis, spurred by an SFMS-supported policy resolution. CMA is the largest physician group in California and the first statewide medical association to take this official position. The decision was based on a white paper concluding physicians should have access to better research, which is not possible under the current policy. The report recognizes that with respect to cannabis, the “drug war” has failed to attain stated goals and has resulted in the waste of resources and lives, and calls for regulation and taxation similar to alcohol, with continued prohibition and discouragement of use by youth. The group producing the report included SFMS President George Fouras, MD and SFMS members Donald Abrams, MD, oncologist and leading cannabis researcher; David Pating, MD, chief of addiction medicine at Kaiser Permanente; and SFMS staff Steve Heilig, MPH. The report is sure to spark much debate. “CMA may be the first organization of its kind to take this position, but we won’t be the last. This was a carefully considered, deliberative decision made exclusively on medical and scientific grounds,” said CMA President-Elect James Hay, MD. “As physicians, we need to have a better understanding about the benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis so that we can provide the best care possible to our patients.” CMA’s Board of Trustees, a representative body of physician delegations across the state, adopted the policy without objection. The federal government currently lists cannabis as a Schedule I drug. That classification restricts the research and ability to study the substance. Part of the policy adopted by CMA emphasizes that the drug should be rescheduled in addition to being legalized. “There simply isn’t the scientific evidence to understand the benefits and risks of medical cannabis,” said Paul Phinney, MD, CMA Board Chair. “We undertook this issue a couple of years ago and the report presented this weekend is clear—in order for the proper studies to be done, we need to advocate for the legalization and regulation.” Physicians, who are currently only allowed to “recommend” medical cannabis, have been stuck in an uncomfortable position, since California decriminalized the drug in 2006. “California has decriminalized marijuana, yet it’s still illegal on a federal level,” Dr. Hay said. “That puts physicians in an incredibly difficult legal position, since we’re the ones ultimately recommending the drug.” CMA advocates for the regulation of medical cannabis to allow for wider clinical research, accountable and quality controlled production of the substance and proper public awareness. The physician group also recommends the regulation of recreational cannabis so that states may regulate this more widely used cannabis for purity and safety. Media Coverage From: Los Angeles Times, October 15 San Francisco Chronicle, October 16 Huffington Post, October 16 East Bay Express, October 17 International Business Times, October 18 NBC, October 18 Comments are closed.
