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DreamSmoker Donating Member (442 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-25-11 04:07 PM
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Federal agency proclaims medical use for marijuana
As federal battles over medical marijuana across the country heat up, a statement from one federal agency may be a huge asset for medical marijuana dispensaries that have been targeted by the various arms of the U.S. Department of Justice and the IRS.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a division of the National Institute of Health, which is itself one of the 11 component agencies that make up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, the NCI quietly added to its treatment database a summary of marijuana’s medicinal benefits, including an acknowledgment that oncologists may recommend it to patients for medicinal use.

The summary cites clinical trials demonstrating the benefit of medical marijuana. Part of it reads:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.

Although 34 states have passed laws recognizing marijuana’s medicinal properties and 15 states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized it for medical use, this is the first time a federal agency has recognized it as medicine. Despite recent developments, Attorney General Eric Holder said in 2009 that the Justice Department would not raid medical marijuana facilities, but at no point did he acknowledge their legitimacy as distribution centers for medicine. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling, meanwhile, declared that medical use of marijuana cannot be considered in any federal court deliberating on a marijuana possession or distribution case.

The new NCI assessment could have an impact on the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the harshest possible drug classification, which has resulted in a prison population in which 1 in 8 prisoners in the U.S. is locked up for a marijuana-related offense. One of the principal criteria for a Schedule I determination is that there be “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” The U.S. Justice Department may have a hard time maintaining that claim if challenged, considering a federal agency now recognizes marijuana’s medical use in cancer treatment.

http://www.americanindependent.com/175499/federal-agency-proclaims-medical-use-for-marijuana
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-25-11 04:12 PM
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1. This is a pivotal, very important development.
I am very encouraged to read this.

Recommended.

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slay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-25-11 05:21 PM
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4. Indeed
this is very good news. We now can challenge it's categorization as a Schedule I drug as WRONG. This is a HUGE boost to medical marijuana advocates and I forsee a future - not too far away - where every state has legal medical marijuana - finally. I hope. :)
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damntexdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-25-11 04:15 PM
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2. But these are mere facts.
How can they possibly stand up to ideology?
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provis99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-25-11 04:25 PM
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3. why does it even matter if marijuana has medical properties?
It should be legal because it's fun to smoke. It needs no more justification than that.
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