Physicians Group Pushes Government to Reconsider Marijuana for Medical Use

The nation's largest physicians organization is urging the federal government to reconsider marijuana as a drug with possible medical use.

The American Medical Association is calling for more clinical research on marijuana, including studying ways to develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.

The decision Tuesday during the group's annual meeting in Houston marks a significant shift in the AMA's policy on pot, the Los Angeles Times reported. For more than a decade the group held that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.

"Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis," said board member Dr. Edward Langston.

The limited number of past studies was "insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product," Langston said

Thirteen states allow the use of medical marijuana, and about a dozen more are considering it.

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