A group of 50 plus physicians, which included a former surgeon general and the faculty members from some of the nation’s biggest medical schools, has now formed the first national group of doctors to request the states as well as the federal government for legalizing and also regulating the use of marijuana for the benefit of the people.
The group that is announcing the formation under the tag Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR) is now endorsing the legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use, a break from the position of the AMA (American Medical Association), which is the biggest organization of doctors in the country.
DFCR states that the prohibition and criminalization of marijuana use actually causes more harm to people than good. Looking at hundreds of annual marijuana arrests, economic disparities and racial in marijuana enforcement, the role of prohibition in quoting marijuana prices high and also lucrative to the rash drug dealers, the physicians say that making a legal and regulated marijuana market is the ideal way for ensuring public safety, combating this illegal drug trade, and also rolling back the bad consequences of strict enforcement policies on communities that have had no advantage whatsoever.
The emergence of this group comes at a critical moment in the national debate over marijuana legalization. More than 60% of the public now are supporting marijuana legalization. Support for letting the medical use of marijuana with doctors’ supervision is close to 90%. More than 35 million people in the US use marijuana recreationally every year, as per the latest federal statistics. Medical groups, research organizations, and also many national lawmakers have now called on the federal authorities for revisiting the policies towards marijuana, which have remained pretty much unchanged for close to 50 years now.
Nathan, who is an Associate Professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, stated that one does not have to be pro marijuana for being opposed to the prohibition. He is quick to point that his team does not actually advocate the use of marijuana, while researchers usually agree that marijuana use is not very harmful for the people and society than the use of other commonly used drugs like tobacco and alcohol. Close to 10 percent of people start using these drugs as adults and later they get addicted to it.
