Texas NORML has posted a new item, 'DEA Forced to Scrub Misleading Info on the
American Medical Association's Position on Marijuana'

Activists get the DEA to remove obsolete information from its website claiming
that the American Medical Association (AMA) still opposes medical marijuana

By Charmie Gholson, AlterNet. Posted December 7, 2009.

On November 10th, the AMA reversed its long-held position that marijuana has no
acceptable medicinal value and adopted a new policy position favoring medical
marijuana. The AMA called on the U.S. government to reconsider its current
classification as a Schedule I substance. (The government categorizes drugs
into “Schedules.” Four of the five actually regulate the use of substances,
but Schedule I drugs—such as marijuana, heroin and LSD—are completely
banned.)

However, a week after the announcement of this historic reversal, the DEA still
hadn’t removed mention of the AMA’s old, anti-medical-marijuana position
from its website.

So, the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an
organization of cops, judges and prosecutors calling for the legalization and
regulation of all drugs, created an action alert asking U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder to order the DEA to scrub the bogus statements from the web.

After just one day of emails from activists, the information disappeared. One
might conclude this quick response was the handiwork of Obama’s tech-savvy
team, if it weren’t for the other government websites still spreading
misinformation about the AMA's position on medical marijuana. Both the White
House "drug czar's" office and the DEA's “scare the children” youth website
still contain inaccurate statements about AMA's position on medical marijuana.

Of course, the drug policy reform advocates at LEAP won’t settle for anything
less than the whole truth and are still urging members to send more letters to
Attorney General Eric Holder and White House "Drug Czar" Gil Kerlikowske,
asking them to stop spending taxpayer money to spread false information about
medical marijuana.

Meanwhile, other public health officials are going even further than the AMA in
criticizing current drug policies. For example, on October 18th, the California
Medical Association endorsed a resolution stating that the criminal prohibition
of marijuana, even for non-medical reasons, is a “failed public health
policy.”

These bold statements from public health officials do more than buoy the hopes
of drug policy reformers; they point to a clear trend of health officials
joining ranks with the outspoken law enforcers at LEAP in saying that current
drug policies aren't protecting the general health, well-being and safety of
the public. The second-largest physician group in the country, the American
College of Physicians (ACP) endorsed the use, reclassification, and further
study of medical marijuana, making the case that the red tape surrounding the
medical use of cannabis has obscured good science for too long.

Speaking of good science, the second in command at the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, Deputy Drug Czar Thomas McClellan, said on November 18th:
“It’s time to use science and common sense to direct our efforts — not
ideology, not positions of the past, but a fresh look at what the data tells
us. We also need the willingness to rethink old positions and particularly to
change direction when the science says it’s time to change direction.”

McClellan’s statement is a reminder of President Obama’s inaugural pledge
to construct federal policy informed by "the most complete, accurate, and
honest scientific information."

Hopefully both President Obama and Thomas McClellan will honor their word, but
if they don’t, they should at least know that LEAP and other watchdog
activists are poised to help them do so.

Charmie Gholson is a staff writer for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

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http://texasnorml.org/?p=577