Arrested development: The case for studying medical marijuana

Physicians say it's time for the federal government to allow studies to put to rest the question of whether the drug has clinical benefits.

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. July 10, 2006.

If there were a drug with the potential to alleviate the pain and suffering of the sickest patients, for whom all other treatments have failed, should patients be allowed to use it? Should independent medical researchers be able to study it? Should physicians be able to prescribe it?

What if that drug was marijuana?

Frustrated doctors and scientists say that in marijuana's case, the federal government's answer is no.

Classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I controlled substance, cannabis can be researched as a medicine only with federal approval. The National Institute on Drug Abuse controls the supply for U.S. studies.

Although physicians debate the likely value of marijuana as medicine, they agree that, unlike other drugs with therapeutic potential, the government has taken a controlling interest in it. This has hindered the research necessary to find out whether cannabis can effectively help patients with serious medical conditions.

The Food and Drug Administration, DEA and NIDA declined to comment. But the FDA in April issued a statement reiterating its position that "no sound scientific studies support medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States."

Still, states continue to pass laws allowing its use with a doctor's recommendation, in spite of an overriding federal ban on the drug's prescription and use. The disconnect between federal and state laws poses risks to both doctors and patients, physicians say. It's time, they add, to expand research and resolve the issue so they can exercise control in the care of patients who seek marijuana for medicinal purposes.