Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118272

David L. Bearman, MD, Deputy Director Health Policy and Grants development, Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority, 110 Castillion Drive, Goleta, CA 93117-3028, 805-685-9525, davidb@sbrha.org

Cannabis has over a 3000-year history as a medicinal. It was in the United States Pharmacopoeia from the 1850s until 1941. The AMA testified against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, saying they knew of NO problems with cannabis. In the 1970s and 80's eight states did medical research, which found that cannabis was efficacious in treating nausea and stimulating appetite. More recently, studies in the UK reported in the Lancet show that the AMA was right: cannabis has medicinal value. The 1999 IOM report also supported that conclusion.

Yet we have apparently turned our back on science and history. We have passed laws which are worse than ineffective. They erode the very freedoms this country stands for. Is this because as a society we have chosen to emphasize superstition, demonization and propaganda over facts? The marijuana issue touches a broad spectrum of issues: the Bill of Rights, religious freedom, mental health, proper expenditure of taxpayer dollars, States' Rights, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Personal Privacy, Illegal Search & Seizure, Forfeiture, parenting, discrimination and science vs. superstition, abuse of government authority, and capricious actions of MBC.

This panel will look at some of these issues as it explores the consequences of today's drug laws on today's medicine, law and society. We will address medical and laboratory research, law, court decisions, public opinion, actions of Medical Boards and Public Health Departments in addressing these issues.

Learning Objectives:

• An understanding of the unintended negative consequences of our current drug policies.
• What has changed since the AMA testified against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, saying they knew of NO problems with cannabis.
• The HHS is breaking the law.
• The 1999 IOM report, Canada, Israel and the Netherlands all recognize that cannabis has medicinal value.
• The California Medical Board has not adhered to the law
• A better understanding of who determines quality of care and by what standards
• Generate renewed energy to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.