Free Republic

Salem -- The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an employer didn't have to make an allowance under state disability laws for a worker who used medical marijuana. The worker, Robert Washburn, was fired from his job as a millwright at a Columbia Forest products plant in Klamath Falls after failing drug tests. Washburn had a state-issued card allowing him to use marijuana to ease leg spasms that disrupted his sleep. He used the drug at home, but the company, which has a policy prohibiting workers from coming to the plant with controlled substances in their systems, fired him in...

The fight to legalize the medical use of marijuana was dealt a blow Thursday when the Food and Drug Administration contradicted an earlier review by the respected Institute of Medicine and concluded that “no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana.” This finding, based on past studies by the FDA and other government health agencies, will further muddy the already confusing messages coming from scientists, doctors and legal agencies. Eleven states have legalized the use of marijuana if prescribed by a physician for medical conditions such as relieving nausea after chemotherapy, and AIDS-related wasting. But the Supreme Court last...

WASHINGTON, April 20 — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana, contradicting a 1999 review by a panel of highly regarded scientists. The announcement inserts the health agency into yet another fierce political fight. Susan Bro, an agency spokeswoman, said Thursday's statement resulted from a past combined review by federal drug enforcement, regulatory and research agencies that concluded "smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical use in the United States and is not an approved medical treatment."

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The FDA said in a statement that it and other agencies with the Health and Human Services Department had "concluded that no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use." A number of states have passed legislation allowing marijuana use for medical purposes, but the FDA said, "These measures are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that...