Statement Attributable to:

Patrice A. Harris M.D., M.A.

President, American Medical Association 

“The American Medical Association commends the Surgeon General for issuing an advisory today on the harmful health effects of cannabis use by pregnant women and youth. We strongly support this effort as the AMA has long discouraged cannabis use by youth, pregnant women, and women who are breastfeeding and has called for research to determine the consequences of long-term cannabis use in these populations.

“The AMA has urged legislatures to delay legalizing cannabis until further research is completed on the public health, medical, economic, and social consequences of its use. In states that have already legalized cannabis, the AMA has urged jurisdictions to take steps to regulate the product effectively to protect the health and safety of high risk populations and the public.

“We also applaud the Surgeon General’s commitment to furthering research on cannabis. The AMA believes that scientifically valid and well-controlled clinical trials conducted under federal investigational new drug applications are necessary to assess the safety and effectiveness of all new drugs, including potential cannabis and cannabinoid products for medical use. Due to legal and regulatory barriers to cannabis and cannabinoid research, physicians and patients do not currently have the evidence needed to understand the health effects of these products and make sound clinical decisions regarding their use.”

The AMA recently offered its support of the ‘Cannabidiol and Marijuana Research Expansion Act’ to enable research that would assess the potential safety and efficacy of medicines derived from cannabis.