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This month's issue of the Journal of the American medical Association (JAMA) reports that the delegates of the AMA have voted to adopt, as official policy, the recommendations of its Council on Scientific Affairs regarding the need for more rational drug policies and research of alternatives to the Drug War. The seven recommendations embrace Harm Reduction, and explicitly call for research into the effects of alternatives to Prohibition. The measures adopted are as follows:

1. That the AMA encourage national policymakers to pursue an approach to the problem of drug abuse aimed at preventing the initiation of drug use, aiding those who wish to cease drug use, and diminishing the adverse consequences of drug use.
2. That the AMA encourage policymakers to recognize the importance of screening for alcohol and other drug use in a variety of settings, and to broaden their concept of addiction treatment to embrace a continuum of modalities and goals, including appropriate measures of harm reduction, which can be made available and accessible to enhance positive treatment outcomes for patients and society.
3. That the AMA encourage the expansion of opioid maintenance programs so that opioid maintenance therapy can be available for any individual who applies and for whom the treatment is suitable. Training must be available so that an adequate number of physicians are prepared to provide treatment. Program regulations should be strengthened so that treatment is driven by patient needs, medical judgment, and drug rehabilitation concerns. Treatment goals should acknowledge the benefits of abstinence from drug use or degrees of relative drug use reduction.
4. That the AMA encourage the extensive application of needle and syringe exchange and distribution programs and the modification of restrictive laws and regulations concerning the sale and possession of needles and syringes to maximize the availability of sterile syringes and needles, while ensuring continued reimbursement for medically necessary needles and syringes. The need for such programs and modification of laws and regulations is urgent, considering the contribution of injecting drug use to the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus infection.
5. That the AMA encourage the undertaking of comprehensive research into the potential effects, both positive and adverse, of relaxing existing drug prohibitions and controls and that, until the findings of such research can be adequately assessed, the AMA reaffirm its opposition to drug legalization, with a report back on the status of such research at the interim meeting of 1998.
6. That the AMA initiate and support legislation revoking the 1988 federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs for injecting drug users.
7. That the AMA strongly encourage state medical associations to initiate state legislation modifying drug paraphernalia laws so that injection drug users can purchase and possess needles and syringes without a prescription.

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