Sidebar : Two Efforts To Tackle Medical Marijuana Issues
There is a rationale for looking further into the therapeutic effects of marijuana, stated panel chairman William Beaver, a professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University, at a news conference after an NIH-sponsored "Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana," held in February. "For at least some of the potential indications, we feel that it looks promising enough to recommend that there would be some new controlled studies done."
The federal government, as a matter of policy, has refused to permit any clinical studies of the drug's potential curative effects. Under the Controlled Substances Act, Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Control Act of 1970, marijuana is a Schedule I drug. Such substances are defined as having a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the United States. Schedule II drugs have a high potential for abuse ...
