---
title: "Psych News Alert: AMA House Approves Several Public-Health Measures, Including on Cannabis Use"
description: The AMA House of Delegates this morning approved a report by the AMA's Council on Science and Public Health (CSPH) urging the formation ...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/kenneth_certa-Jun-24-2025-05-12-32-7847-PM.jpg
---

 11/19/13 12:00 AM

# AMA House Approves Several Public-Health Measures, Including on Cannabis Use

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html)

| [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/kenneth_certa-Jun-24-2025-05-12-32-0255-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/kenneth_certa-Jun-24-2025-05-12-32-0255-PM.jpg) |  |
| --- | --- |

The AMA House of Delegates this morning approved a report by the AMA's Council on Science and Public Health (CSPH) urging the formation of a comprehensive national policy on drug abuse and specifically advising that the federal government and the public should acknowledge that federal efforts to address illicit drug use via supply reduction and enforcement have been ineffective. The report calls for research to determine the consequences of long-term cannabis use, especially among youth and adolescents, and supports the modification of state and federal laws to emphasize public-health strategies to reduce cannabis use. (Pictured at left is psychiatrist Kenneth Certa, M.D., who chaired the reference committee that heard testimony on the CSPH report and helped refine it.)

The CSPH report was one of several public-health-related actions taken by the House of Delegates on the last day of its Interim Meeting. Other subjects addressed were gun-safety counseling in undergraduate medical education, athlete concussion management and chronic traumatic encephalopathy prevention, promoting health awareness and preventive screenings for individuals with disabilities, and providing culturally competent mental health care for at-risk communities. Look for further coverage of these subjects in upcoming *Psychiatric News* issues.

New APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., also took advantage of the occasion to meet with other specialty society leaders to plan strategy around common goals. To hear a brief audio conversation with Levin click [here](http://psychnews.org/update/audio/saul_levin_ama.mp3).

(photo: Mark Moran/Psychiatric News)

[Saul Levin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/saul-levin), [cannabis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cannabis), [AMA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ama), [public health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/public-health), [House of Delegates](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/house-of-delegates)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Scully-et-al_AMA-Jun-24-2025-10-25-28-9860-PM.gif?height=200&name=Scully-et-al_AMA-Jun-24-2025-10-25-28-9860-PM.gif) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/scully-honored-at-ama-meeting.html)

[Saul Levin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/saul-levin), [James Scully](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/james-scully), [Carolyn Robinowitz](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/carolyn-robinowitz), [M.D.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/m-d-), [AMA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ama), [American Psychiatric Association](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/american-psychiatric-association), [Patrick Harris](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/patrick-harris), [M.P.A.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/m-p-a-), [Jeremy Lazarus](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/jeremy-lazarus)

## [Scully Honored at AMA Meeting](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/scully-honored-at-ama-meeting.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 11/17/13 12:00 AM

Immediate past APA Medical Director and CEO James H. Scully, M.D., was feted last night at a...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/scully-honored-at-ama-meeting.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/patrice_harris_wins_small-Jun-24-2025-10-24-45-8332-PM.jpg?height=200&name=patrice_harris_wins_small-Jun-24-2025-10-24-45-8332-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/06/psychiatrist-patrice-harris-md-ma.html)

[Saul Levin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/saul-levin), [Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/task-force-to-reduce-opioid-abuse), [Altha Stewart](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/altha-stewart), [Patrice Harris](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/patrice-harris), [physician-patient relationship](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/physician-patient-relationship), [AMA](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ama), [AMA Board of Trustees](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ama-board-of-trustees), [AMA House of Delegates](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ama-house-of-delegates)

## [Psychiatrist Patrice Harris, M.D., M.A., Elected President-Elect of the AMA](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/06/psychiatrist-patrice-harris-md-ma.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 6/12/18 12:00 AM

APA member Patrice Harris, M.D., M.A., a former APA board member and AMA board member, was elected...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/06/psychiatrist-patrice-harris-md-ma.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/george_h_w_bush-Jun-24-2025-09-26-35-2112-PM.jpg?height=200&name=george_h_w_bush-Jun-24-2025-09-26-35-2112-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/apa-salutes-george-hw-bush-for.html)

[Saul Levin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/saul-levin), [M.D.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/m-d-), [M.P.A.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/m-p-a-)

## [APA Salutes George H.W. Bush for Commitment to Improving Americans’ Lives](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/apa-salutes-george-hw-bush-for.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 12/3/18 12:00 AM

George Herbert Walker Bush, the nation’s 41st president, died November 30. He was praised by...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/12/apa-salutes-george-hw-bush-for.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T17:16:32.852Z",
  "datePublished" : "2013-11-19T05:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: AMA House Approves Several Public-Health Measures, Including on Cannabis Use",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/kenneth_certa-Jun-24-2025-05-12-32-7847-PM.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/11/ama-house-approves-several-public.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```