“Any determination of a drug’s valid medical use must be based on the best available science undertaken by medical professionals. The Institute of Medicine (under the National Academy of Sciences) conducted a comprehensive study in 1999 to assess the potential health benefits of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. The study concluded that smoking marijuana is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition.

In addition, the effects of cannabinoids studied are generally modest, and in most cases, there are more effective medications currently available. For those reasons, the Institute of Medicine concluded that there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also conducted an extensive scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana as medicine and issued a finding in January 2001 that marijuana (and the tetrahydrocannabinols) should remain as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

A Schedule I substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and has a high potential for abuse. HHS based its recommendation on many factors, including that the FDA has not approved a new drug application for marijuana and the fact that the known risks of marijuana use outweigh any potential benefits.”

Did the US 1999 IOM Report conclude that medical marijuana has any medical value?

Jan. 2, 2002