Marijuana’s Harmful Impact Outweighs any Potential Benefits

October 14, 2011

Contact
Donovan Kuehn
703.741.7686
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The organization that speaks out for 75,000 addiction-focused professionals has made it clear: marijuana is not medicine.

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, represents the professional interests of addiction counselors, educators and other addiction-focused health care professionals in the United States, Canada and abroad.

Addressing a Dangerous Substance
NAADAC’s position is unequivocal: “Marijuana should be subject to the same research, consideration and study as any other potential medicine, under the standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

NAADAC came to this conclusion because marijuana “has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.”

What About the Voters?
Voters in many states have approved the concept of “medical marijuana” in referenda across the nation. While NAADAC supports the right of citizens to participate in the democratic process, it does not support legislative or voter ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana for medical use.

“NAADAC recognizes the supremacy of federal regulatory standards for drug approval and distribution. NAADAC recognizes that states can enact limitations that are more restrictive but rejects the concept that states could enact more permissive regulatory standards. NAADAC discourages state interference in the federal medication approval process,” reads the position paper.

“The name ‘medical marijuana’ is false. Marijuana is marijuana, with a negative impact on the health of the user, the community that needs to police the use and sale of the drug and the negative impact that comes from the manufacture and sale of this illegal product,” said Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, NCAC II, CCDC III, SAP, Executive Director of NAADAC.

“People who use marijuana are endangering their health,” she added.

Click here to read the entire Position Statement.