Health Secretary Says There's "No Such Thing" As Medical Marijuana

What’s the story?

At a press conference in Ohio the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Health Secretary Alex Azar proclaimed, "There really is no such thing as medical marijuana", while championing the federal government’s allocation of millions to develop opioid alternatives.

Ohio is just about to begin licensing medical marijuana businesses in the state. Medical marijuana was legalized there in September 2016.

Azar was appearing at an inpatient facility that treats newborns suffering from prenatal drug exposure. He went on to say, "There is no FDA-approved use of marijuana, a botanical plant. I just want to be very clear about that."

But he insisted that the administration and Congress are investing millions in research to develop opioid alternatives for pain relief:

"We are devoting hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of research at our National Institutes of Health as part of the historic $13 billion opioid and serious mental illness program that the president and Congress are funding. Over $750 million just in 2019 alone is going to be dedicated towards the National Institutes of Health working in public-private partnership to try and develop the next generation of pain therapies that are not opioids."

The administration does not see the development of medical marijuana as an alternative pain treatment.

What do you think?

Do you agree with Secretary Azar or not? Should the federal government pursue the reclassification of marijuana so that research on medical marijuana can happen on the federal level? Or is money better spent on researching other therapies?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Laurie Avocado / Creative Commons)