The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

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 medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the FDA approval process and are proven safe and effective."

 

The statement contradicts a 1999 finding from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which reported that "marijuana‘s active components are potentially effective in treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting and other symptoms, and should be tested rigorously in clinical trials."

The FDA statement noted "there is currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful."

It also said, "There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana."

A spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group, called the FDA anti-marijuana statement political. 

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