Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

FDA Challenges Benefits of Pot
Time Blogs ^ | April 21, 2006 | Alice Park

Posted on 04/22/2006 6:52:28 PM PDT by voletti

The fight to legalize the medical use of marijuana was dealt a blow Thursday when the Food and Drug Administration contradicted an earlier review by the respected Institute of Medicine and concluded that “no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana.”

This finding, based on past studies by the FDA and other government health agencies, will further muddy the already confusing messages coming from scientists, doctors and legal agencies. Eleven states have legalized the use of marijuana if prescribed by a physician for medical conditions such as relieving nausea after chemotherapy, and AIDS-related wasting. But the Supreme Court last year decided that federal law enforcement officials can arrest anyone using the potentially addictive drug, even if it’s for medical reasons and in a state that has legalized this use.

WHAT IT MEANS: Critics of the FDA see this announcement as the latest in a string of decisions that they claim are more political than scientific in nature – some see the influence of the Drug Enforcement Agency, whose director has opposed laws legalizing medical marijuana use, while scientists attempting to study the drug in controlled trials find themselves in a Catch-22. They claim that the government stymies their efforts to document the medical effects of marijuana by noting that there is little evidence to support its medical use, while the reason for the dearth of studies is that few agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the largest source of research funding in the US, are willing to fund the work. Small studies funded by states or non-government interests have begun to show some potential benefits of smoking marijuana in alleviating pain, but it seems that documenting these effects in large, controlled trials may may just get more challenging.

(Excerpt) Read more at time.blogs.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: blindmunchies; callthewaaambulance; dontbogartthatjoint; dopesmokingdopes; fda; libertarianssaddened; marijuana; medicalmarijuana; nomedicalbenefit; stopsmokingdope; wod; wodlist

1 posted on 04/22/2006 6:52:31 PM PDT by voletti
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: voletti
the Food and Drug Administration contradicted an earlier review by the respected Institute of Medicine and concluded that “no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana.”

So they proved that every study cited by the Institute of Medicine was "unsound"? In a pig's eye ... this FDA pronouncement has as much to do with science as 'global warming' kookery.

2 posted on 04/22/2006 7:16:19 PM PDT by Know your rights (The modern enlightened liberal doesn't care what you believe as long as you don't really believe it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: voletti

The F.D.A. is a political agency that would come up with a study proving that apples cause cancer if that's what the government wanted.


3 posted on 04/22/2006 7:25:32 PM PDT by lfod1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lfod1776
The F.D.A. is a political agency that would come up with a study proving that apples cause cancer if that's what the government wanted.

Worth repeating. This is the same FDA which magically approved RU-486 under Clinton, has had egg on its face over Phen-Fen, COX-2 inhibitors...

4 posted on 04/22/2006 10:51:56 PM PDT by newzjunkey (Don't use illegals: HIREPATRIOTS.COM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson