FDA's Media Release on POT

Pinch

Well-Known Member
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2006
Media Inquiries:
FDA Press Office, 301-827-6242
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Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine
Claims have been advanced asserting smoked marijuana has a value in treating various medical conditions. Some have argued that herbal marijuana is a safe and effective medication and that it should be made available to people who suffer from a number of ailments upon a doctor's recommendation, even though it is not an approved drug.

Marijuana is listed in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the most restrictive schedule. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which administers the CSA, continues to support that placement and FDA concurred because marijuana met the three criteria for placement in Schedule I under 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(1) (e.g., marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision). Furthermore, there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful. A past evaluation by several Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), concluded that no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use. There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana.

FDA is the sole Federal agency that approves drug products as safe and effective for intended indications. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act requires that new drugs be shown to be safe and effective for their intended use before being marketed in this country. FDA's drug approval process requires well-controlled clinical trials that provide the necessary scientific data upon which FDA makes its approval and labeling decisions. If a drug product is to be marketed, disciplined, systematic, scientifically conducted trials are the best means to obtain data to ensure that drug is safe and effective when used as indicated. Efforts that seek to bypass the FDA drug approval process would not serve the interests of public health because they might expose patients to unsafe and ineffective drug products. FDA has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease indication.

A growing number of states have passed voter referenda (or legislative actions) making smoked marijuana available for a variety of medical conditions upon a doctor's recommendation. These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective under the standards of the FD&C Act. Accordingly, FDA, as the federal agency responsible for reviewing the safety and efficacy of drugs, DEA as the federal agency charged with enforcing the CSA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, as the federal coordinator of drug control policy, do not support the use of smoked marijuana for medical purposes.

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Are you saying the FDA has a sense of humor? :laughtwo:
 
Are you sure that was not released on April 1st? I mean...they may have just ment it as a joke. I doubt this is real, I mean...how could an Agency, so backwards and owned by the drug companies...release something like that? It's a fluke! A pink elephant even!
 
vegesbruen said:
Are you sure that was not released on April 1st? I mean...they may have just ment it as a joke. I doubt this is real, I mean...how could an Agency, so backwards and owned by the drug companies...release something like that? It's a fluke! A pink elephant even!

Mr Veg.. I got it off the FDA website. :peace:
 
Whats so dumb about this, they tout the possible harm Marijuana may pose, and offer FDA approved drugs as an alternative. I don't know how manhy people here take medication for serius illnesses, but almost every pain decreaser severely damages your liver and other internal organs after prolonged periods of time. So how does damaged internal organs become a better alternative to possible lung damage (assumiung you SMOKE marijuana in the first place, one of MANY ways to injest the substance)? Furthermore, what evidence does the FDA have of harmful effects from marijuana that is INJESTED rather than smoked, or vaporized? Anyone with half a brain should see through this as absolute bullshit.
-PM
 
Thepurplem0nkey said:
Whats so dumb about this, they tout the possible harm Marijuana may pose, and offer FDA approved drugs as an alternative. I don't know how manhy people here take medication for serius illnesses, but almost every pain decreaser severely damages your liver and other internal organs after prolonged periods of time. So how does damaged internal organs become a better alternative to possible lung damage (assumiung you SMOKE marijuana in the first place, one of MANY ways to injest the substance)? Furthermore, what evidence does the FDA have of harmful effects from marijuana that is INJESTED rather than smoked, or vaporized? Anyone with half a brain should see through this as absolute bullshit.
-PM

Every legal pharmecutical is a metabolic poison of some kind. I often wonder if the FDA is backing these poisonous drugs to reduce the federal government's social security problem... But then, politicians don't plan long term, so it has to be pure stupidity.

Remember the story last week about the death rate dropping in 2004?? Here's an eyeopening link about that one... Just How Many Americans Did Vioxx Kill?

Me?? I'm gonna avoid the medical establishment as much as I can manage.... It appears that FDA approval is meaningless as these approvals may say more about political connections or campaign contributions than actual benefit to any patient of the US health system...

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