Survey: Only 76 Percent of Doctors Support Medical Marijuana
By TruthOnPot.com on May 31, 2013
1,446 doctors responded to the survey.
In February, the New England Journal of Medicine presented the story of a hypothetical patient named “Marylin” – who suffered from cancer-related nausea, pain and lack of appetite – and asked its readers whether medical marijuana should be prescribed.
The overwhelming response was yes.
“We were surprised by the outcome of polling and comments, with 76 percent of all votes in favor of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes – even though marijuana use is illegal in most countries,” wrote the authors of the survey.
A total of 1446 votes were cast by doctors from 72 different countries.
However, over a thousand votes came from within North America with doctors from 56 states and provinces voicing their opinions.
Each state and province with at least 10 votes had more than 50% support for medical marijuana, except Utah. In Utah, only 1% of 76 voters supported medical marijuana. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, represented the highest level of support, with 96% of 107 voters approving of medical marijuana.
Support for medical marijuana was even higher outside the U.S. – about 78%.
Many who advocated for marijuana cited its potential to relieve the patient’s symptoms as a reason to prescribe the drug. On the other hand, opponents cited a lack of scientific evidence, uncertainty over the supply and issues related to dosing and side-effects.
Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, voted in favor of medical marijuana but asserts that valid arguments could be made for both sides.
“There are no 100 percents in medicine. There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that this is something we should study more. Forgive the pun, but there’s probably some fire where there’s smoke, and we should investigate the medicinal use of marijuana or its components,” Bostwick said to HealthDay.
Besides anecdotal evidence, significant research underscores the therapeutic properties of medical marijuana and the cannabinoids that it contains.
(MORE: Can Marijuana Cure Nausea?)
In fact, Marinol – a FDA-approved THC pill – can be prescribed in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer-related nausea as well as AIDS-related anorexia. Likewise, Sativex – a cannabis-derived oral spray – is currently being reviewed by the FDA for the treatment of cancer-related pain.
However, marijuana remains prohibited by the FDA as a medical treatment, despite the fact that 19 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that argue the contrary. Likewise, medical marijuana is legal in Canada and a number of European countries, including the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany.
The survey’s results were published in the May 30 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
No comments:
Post a Comment