(KADN) — As the possibility of making medical marijuana more widely available nationwide is being discussed, there is some information on how any changes could affect you.
Medical marijuana got a boost this week. The DEA is reviewing an official request to reclassify cannabis as a legal prescription. However, as you can imagine, this issue is complicated.
Two federal agencies are recommending cannabis be regulated as a prescription drug. They cite acceptable medical use and a low risk to public health. Currently, there is evidence in the treatment of pain, as well as the nausea and decreased appetite associated with illness like cancer.
(CNN) — Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance.
There are special rules when we prescribe potentially addictive medications or controlled agents. So how does this work?
Drugs are classified by their risk of addiction and abuse. Schedule V is the lowest and Schedule I the highest. Schedule V includes cough medicine with minimal amounts of codeine.
The next three include drugs with increasingly higher risk of dependence and abuse.
Finally, Schedule I has the highest risk AND these are drugs that have no current acceptable medical use. This includes heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and cannabis.
The current recommendation is that cannabis be reduced to Schedule III and join Tylenol with codeine, and steroids like testosterone.
As such, it can be legally manufactured and it will be easier to research legitimate uses. This will allow the FDA to approve and test medications based on cannabis.
However this does NOT legalize its recreational use. Also, the DEA maintains final authority on the scheduling and prescription of ANY controlled agent.
Right now, there are about 15 approved conditions for 6 million medical marijuana patients. If approved, there will be legitimate access for more patients and physician oversight.