Doctors want focus off punishment, and into ways to properly use drug as a treatment.

by Brian Leubitz

The California Medical Association, the 30,000 strong organization of California doctors, has just issued a statement calling for the reclassification of marijuana away from its current Schedule I status.

The California Medical Association (CMA) has adopted official policy that recommends legalization and regulation of cannabis. 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 paper, available here, is a thoughtful study and response to an important issue, continuing CMA’s tradition of providing guidance on public health.

CMA is the largest physician group in California and the first statewide medical association to take this official position.

“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 James T. Hay, M.D., CMA President-Elect. “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)

There are a lot of questions about the pros and cons of marijuana, but because of the classification, very little serious research has been done.  CMA is just taking a look at what the reality is on the ground, acknowledging the facts and seeing what they can do to make the situation better.  We have far too many people locked up in prisons for drug crimes, we’re spending money on a losing battle.  How do we actually address the problem instead of pretending we are still fighting a war on drugs that we clearly lost years ago.

Of course, there are plenty of groups out there to go crazy over this, and one Republican running for the Assembly obliges MediaNews on that front:

But critics, like Paul Chabot, president of the Coalition for a Drug Free California, said the CMA recommendation would harm society. … Chabot, who said his group has more than 1,000 members, called on doctors to tear up their CMA membership cards “in light of leadership’s pro drug legalization stance.”

“Research has shown marijuana use has been linked to testicular cancer, schizophrenia, and depression,” Chabot said. “It’s because of so-called medical marijuana, we now have the highest use-rate for kids in America. What an irresponsible and unethical position the CMA has taken.” (MediaNews)

It is perfect that Chabot is running for Assembly, he’ll fit in well with the pretend reality doesn’t exist GOP caucus.  The “studies” he cites are far from comprehensive and don’t accurately tell anywhere near the full story.  At the very least, we should be doing real research on both sides of the drug, instead of just pretending it is purely this insidious thing.  

Because, you know, tobacco isn’t linked to, oh, I don’t know, every imaginable form of cancer, yet we allow recreational use of that known-killer.  Let’s see Chabot call for outlawing tobacco and see how far he gets in the political world.  I suppose Altria has better lobbyists and more cash than Oaksterdam.