[Farm A.C.]

American Psychiatric Association Assembly Unanimously Backs Medical Marijuana
Tim King Salem-News.com

A major move by one of the nation's top medical groups, they are backing medical marijuana and they want the federal government to leave doctors alone.
Medical marijuana logo
Courtesy: Marijuana Policy Project

(WASHINGTON, D.C. ) - In a unanimous vote, the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association has approved a strongly worded statement supporting legal protection for patients using medical marijuana with their doctor's recommendation.

"This is a very large and important medical organization, it isn't some fringe group," said Bruce Mirken from the Marijuana Policy Project.

He told Salem-News.com, "This move debunks a lot of the nonsense from some of the anti-medical marijuana groups. They have been aggressively using false information tactics. These groups allege that there are various links between mental illness and marijuana, ignoring the fact that it is well documented that medical marijuana can be therapeutic".

The APA action paper, which must be approved by the APA Board of Trustees when it meets in December, notes that 12 states now have medical marijuana laws, and states, "The threat of arrest by federal agents, however, still exists. Seriously ill patients living in these states with medical marijuana recommendations from their doctors should not be subjected to the threat of punitive federal prosecution for merely attempting to alleviate the chronic pain, side effects, or symptoms associated with their conditions or resulting from their overall treatment regimens. ... [We] support protection for patients and physicians participating in state approved medical marijuana programs."

This is not the first, but the second action paper calling on the government to facilitate "well-designed clinical research into the medical utility of marijuana" were adopted Saturday with no dissenting votes by the APA Assembly, which represents the group's 74 district branches and 16 allied professional organizations.

"This vote is a landmark, and a proud day for our profession." said Abraham L. Halpern, M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry at New York Medical College and past president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. "As physicians, we cannot abide our patients being subject to arrest and jail for using a physician-recommended treatment that clearly relieves suffering for many who are not helped by conventional treatments."

"This unanimous vote shows the growing acceptance of medical marijuana by organized medicine," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "Members of Congress who have opposed efforts to protect patients from federal prosecution have tried to portray medical marijuana as a fringe issue. But the APA Assembly vote, along with other recent endorsements including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, shows that it's those who want to arrest the sick and suffering who are on the fringe."

With 40,000 members and 16 allied organizations (including the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Association for Social Psychiatry, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and the American Association of Emergency Psychiatrists), the American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization for psychiatrists in the United States.

Mirken says the the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association's trustees will vote on the matter in December.

With more than 23,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit MarijuanaPolicy.org.

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/n...psyc_11707.php

[HappaGuy]

Before it was discovered I was a neurology patient (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy), I was "treated" for years by psychiatrists, who gave me bucket loads of insanely unhealthy drugs.

All of them saw my cannabis use as indicative of moral degradation.

I will send this article to my former psychiatrists.

Note that the mode of treatment most used by psychiatry today is to treat behavioral symptoms with drugs that so reduce brain-function that the patient is no longer capable of much behavior at all.

Ten years and more of these witch doctors. So glad they're getting a clue.

OHHH good news is good to find.

Thank you WTC!

[Smilodon]

This is good news!

I can't wait to see how the feds try to spin this one.

ummmn.....The APA has long been known to support left wing agendas and currently is believed to have weapons of mass destruction. The Attorney General has been instructed to uncover their obvious affiliation with Alkaida and the Talaban. It is obvious these so called professionals have been payed off by mexican cartels. (roflmao) ,)

[wallawalla]

Another good piece of news for the MMJ world!!

[BrattonBasher]

This is good news indeed! These are M.D.'s who can clearly see through all the bullshit and are taking a brave stand! Enough of these Medical Society's go on record for MMJ and we will get the Surgeon General to step in.

[wallawalla]

It is nice when they finally step up to the plate, and the truth comes out.

[Valleygirl]

Very good news indeed. But, not to be pessimistic, but I am pretty sure this isn't going to faze the feds at all. In due time hopefully it will.

[alex420420]

Originally Posted by Valleygirl

Very good news indeed. But, not to be pessimistic, but I am pretty sure this isn't going to faze the feds at all. In due time hopefully it will.

or course not...this is not a battle of right and wrong, its all political so these studies have so little impact on feds....BUT have a huge impact on the citizens....which r the ones with the vote....but the state war has already been won ( for some states)... now bigger fish to fry...

[DSW90049]

In the world of endorsements, this is a very big fish and incredibly wonderful news!
No doubt the media and the current federal administration will spin the hell out of this, but, when this many M.D's vote unanimously-- their spokespeople anyway-- it rather does make a mockery of the US Supreme Court's position that there is no medical use for MMJ, now doesn't it?!

[alex420420]

you know wats the worst...im sure you know but the fed govt DOES in fact give mmj 2 i believe 12 or 13 patients... how the fuck can they give it to thosd patients....and deny the fact that it has extreme medicinal value? That shows me just what kinda war this is....a political one... THEY HAVE TO KNOW WAT CANNABIS CAN tDO FOR PEOPLE>>>> there is just no denying... and yet, miraculously, they deny it...even after they approved it!!!! WTF?????

[alex420420]

bad bush bad....go to yer room! haha

[Hav805]

Originally Posted by alex420420

you know wats the worst...im sure you know but the fed govt DOES in fact give mmj 2 i believe 12 or 13 patients... how the fuck can they give it to those patients....and deny the fact that it has extreme medicinal value?

I believe it was 6 or 7 and I believe 5 are currently alive to day. The federal government recognizes mmj use they grew MEDICAL MARIJUANA at the University of Mississippi and packaged them and frozen them for years. The weed they get sent to them is from 1996. SO WHY? WHY does the federal government give medical marijuana to their patients but does not recognize the citizens of California law which allows of the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

And how do you sleep at night imprisoning people who are a byproduct of their hypocrisy.

[johnnyringo]

great I just need to show my doctor this he still belives that cannabis use will make you crazy lol.

[420love]

i use med mj to help my symptoms of bipolar adhd anxiety and insomia, my recommendation is purely psychiatric based on my treatment records. it works AMAZING for bipolar. i can function normal with it. Especially sativas if you are working.

[djtalltommy]

Don't Panic Its Organic!!!!!: