Oregon: 2009 Oregon NORML Rick Bayer Award - Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D.

By Anna Diaz for Oregon NORML

The American Medical Association (AMA) voted in November 2009 to reverse its long held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research.

The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana's status as a Schedule 1 substance.

"It's been 72 years since the AMA has officially recognized that marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility," said Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., the medical student who spearheaded the passage of the June 2008 resolution by the MSS and was one of the CSAPH report's designated expert reviewers. "The AMA has written an extensive, well-documented, evidence bases report that they are seeking to publish in a peer-reviewed journal that will help to educate the medical community about the scientific basis of botanical cannabis-based medicines."

Aggarwal is on the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Board of directors for the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine. He is awarded the 2009 Rick Bayer Award for his ability to speak out effectively and transform the status quo in American medicine to reconsider cannabis.

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Anna Diaz is one of the founders of Oregon NORML and is serving her third term on the board of directors. She has spearheaded Oregon NORML's letter writing campaigns, with over 1000 letters and postcards sent to state and national legislators. She is the editor of Oregon NORML's newsletter and a published writer on cannabis issues, reporting on Oregon's cannabis community for the West Coast Leaf newspaper, West Coast Cannabis magazine, hightimes.com and state and local media.


Source: 2009 Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards Program Guide