Major Medical Association Urges Legalization of Marijuana
![Medical marijuana.](https://d.medicaldaily.com/en/full/221647/medical-marijuana.jpg?w=500&f=83ad0f20b5c420fa5e7a87b31be2e569)
A large association of doctors in California adopted the position to legalize marijuana citing "frustration" over the state's medical marijuana law.
Trustees of the California Medical Association, which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide adopted the position to legalize marijuana during their annual meeting in Anaheim, Friday, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
The writer of the group's new policy, Sacramento physician Dr. Donald Lyman, said they are adopting legalization due to growing frustration over the state's medical marijuana law which allows pot use with a doctor's recommendation.
Lyman said the issue has created an "untenable" situation among physicians which is to decide whether to give patients a substance that is illegal under federal law, according to the LA Times.
"It's an uncomfortable position for doctors," he said. "It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not. That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done. Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for."
A group's spokeswoman said it is the first major medical association in the country to urge legalization of marijuana.
The group's position was strongly criticized by California authorities.
"Given everything that we know about the physiological impacts of marijuana - how it affects young brains, the number of accidents associated with driving under the influence - it's just an unbelievably irresponsible position," said John Lovell, spokesman for the California Police Chiefs Association, according to the report.
The Association admits that marijuana has few proven health benefits and acknowledges some health risk associated with its use so it proposes that it be regulated along the lines of alcohol and tobacco, the LA Times report says.
The Association says the consequences of criminalization outweigh the hazards.