Even more doctors now are cool with you smoking weed

This week saw the launch of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR), the first national organization of doctors supporting the legalization of marijuana in America. The group's profile is boosted by prominent medical figures among its initial membership, including former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders and faculty members at leading institutions like Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, and Harvard Medical School.

"As the public recognizes that cannabis prohibition clearly causes more harm than good," DFCR's homepage argues, "now is the time for physicians to begin advocating for effective government regulation of cannabis." The page features poll results which show that doctors who have never tried marijuana are pretty evenly split over whether and to what extent it should be legalized — but among doctors who have sampled pot, about six in 10 support full legalization.

The group makes the case that mere decriminalization "has proven to be an inadequate alternative to legalization," that occasional use of marijuana by adults is "generally benign" and should not be prohibited; and that weed should be treated more like alcohol and tobacco, both of which DFCR believes are comparatively more harmful drugs.

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