76 percent of doctors approve of medical marijuana use

Survey: 76 percent of doctors approve of medical marijuana use



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A majority of doctors would approve the use of medical marijuana, according to a new survey.
"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," the survey's
authors wrote.
The results appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine
on May 30. It included responses from 1,446 doctors from 72 different
countries and 56 different states and provinces in North America. In
addition, 118 doctors posted comments about their decision on the
survey.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the
United States. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
revealed that 15.2 million people had smoked weed in the month before being surveyed, and it was used by 75.6 percent of all illicit drug users.
Marijuana
has also been linked to medical benefits, and has been shown to relieve
pain, improve mood and increase appetite for patients who are
prescribed it medicinally, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse
pointed out that the evidence of its benefits is not enough to give
marijuana Food and Drug Administration approval.
That being
said, 19 states and the District of Columbia currently allow people to
be in possession of marijuana with a doctor's prescription with Maryland the most recent, and Washington and Colorado have legalized pot for recreational purposes following the November elections.
Doctors
surveyed were given a hypothetical case about a woman named "Marylin," a
68-year-old woman with breast cancer that had metastasized -- or spread
-- to her lungs, chest cavity and spine. They were asked if they would
give her medical marijuana to help her with her symptoms.
More
than three-quarters of the North American physicians approved the use of
medical marijuana in this scenario. About 78 percent of doctors outside
the U.S. who responded supported the use as well.

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Doctors who said they would prescribe it talked a lot about the
responsibility of caregivers to help minimize their patients suffering,
their patients' personal choice and the known dangers of prescription
narcotics and painkillers. They also pointed out knowledge of personal
cases where marijuana was able to help patients.
Dr. J. Michael
Bostwick, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minn., wrote a pro-Marijuana commentary for the survey.
"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.
Those
who opposed prescribing marijuana pointed out the lack of evidence,
uncertainty over where the marijuana was coming from, and problems with
dosing and side effects.
Dr. Gary Reisfield, who co-wrote the
"against" side for survey, pointed out that marijuana could hurt the
lungs, further exasperating anyone who already had a lung condition.
"Heavy
marijuana use is associated with numerous adverse health and societal
outcomes including psychomotor, memory and executive function
impairments, marijuana use disorders, other psychiatric conditions such
as psychosis, poor school and work performance and impaired driving
performance," he said to HealthDay.
Both sides argued over whether or not medical marijuana use should be under a doctor's discretion in the first place.
"Common in this debate was the question of whether marijuana even
belongs within the purview of physicians or whether the substance should
be legalized and patients allowed to decide for themselves whether to
make use of it," the authors said.





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