-------------------------------------------------------------------
Study backs medical pot use (The Oregonian describes the report released
yesterday by the Institute of Medicine on the efficacy of medical marijuana.)
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 10:45:14 -0800
To: dpfor@drugsense.org
From: "D. Paul Stanford" (stanford@crrh.org)
Subject: DPFOR: OR: MMJ: Study backs medical pot use
Sender: owner-dpfor@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfor@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/
Newshawk: D. Paul Stanford http://www.crrh.org
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 1999 The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Address: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Oz Hopkins Koglin
Study backs medical pot use
A national report says that although of limited value, marijuana is effective
and not a "gateway drug" but more research is needed
Marijuana's active ingredients are effective in treating pain, nausea and poor
appetite, but more-rigorous studies on patients should be done to determine the
medical benefits, according to a long-awaited report released Wednesday.
The Institute of Medicine's report on the medical effects of marijuana also
found no conclusive data that it is a "gateway drug" leading to the use of
harder, illicit drugs -- one of the issues in the national controversy over
legalizing marijuana for medical use.
Furthermore, the report found no evidence that approving marijuana for medical
use would increase its use among the general population, particularly if it
were regulated as closely as other medications with the potential for abuse,
such as morphine.
But the report emphasized that the drug's usefulness is limited because the
plant, when smoked, has harmful effects and can increase risks of cancer, lung
damage and low-birth-weight babies. Therefore, the report said, smoking
marijuana should be recommended only for terminally ill patients or those with
debilitating symptoms that do not respond to approved medications.
"We aren't keen about smoking tobacco or anything else," said Dr. John A.
Benson Jr. of Portland, who is the study's co-principal investigator and a
former dean of Oregon Health Sciences University's School of Medicine.
Sharply divided opinion on the value of medical marijuana and a flurry of state
medical marijuana initiatives prompted the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy to ask the Institute of Medicine to review scientific evidence
and assess the potential health benefits and risks.
The institute is a private, nonprofit organization that provides health policy
advice to the federal government.
The review began in August 1997 and culminated in the current report.
Oregon is one of six states that allow use of medical marijuana.
Advocates of the medical use of marijuana say the drug should be available for
treatment of a variety disorders, including easing severe nausea and vomiting
associated with chemotherapy; decreasing inner-eye pressure in glaucoma
patients; reducing muscle spasms in patients with multiple sclerosis; and
stimulating the appetites of patients with HIV or AIDS. The counter-argument is
that marijuana is a gateway drug and that the fight to approve it for medical
purposes is just a ploy in a strategy to get it legalized.
Marijuana is a powerful drug that produces a variety of biological effects from
compounds called cannabinoids, including THC, its primary psychoactive
ingredient. In recent years, scientists have found that some compounds act on
cannabinoid receptors in the brain and play a role in pain, memory and control
of movement. More study of these effects could lead to the development of
better medicines and a better understanding of the brain, Benson said.
There is evidence that patients who would smoke marijuana to ease long-term
chronic medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury,
could put themselves at increased risk of developing lung cancer. However,
additional studies may lead to safer ways of delivering marijuana and
cannabinoids through inhalers -- squirts in the mouth or the nose that would be
absorbed as quickly as marijuana smoke.
But even if a safer drug delivery system could be found, medical marijuana can
only relieve a narrow range of symptoms and is not as good as drugs already on
the market, Benson said. But he noted that a small number of patients do not
respond to conventional medicines and that they might benefit from further
marijuana research.
Although marijuana is effective in treating nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy
patients, new conventional drugs are about 90 percent more effective. And
although marijuana increased the appetite of AIDS patients and made them gain
weight, it is not good weight, Benson said.
"What happens is, you lay down fat," he said, "and what AIDS patients need is
muscle, and that is lean body mass that they lose."
Medical marijuana also has little promise for treatment of migraine headaches
or epilepsy, Benson said. And in glaucoma, a potentially blinding condition
signaled by increased pressure in the eye, marijuana lowered the pressure but
did not slow progression of the disease, he said.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the NORML Foundation -- the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws -- found the report to be "tepid
in its recommendations."
He said the new report "will not stop a lot of the legal and medical confusion
in states such as Oregon over the medical access to the plant."
Critics also contend marijuana has the potential for physical and medical harm.
Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., who led the fight to get the House of
Representatives to condemn medical marijuana last fall, said he was "deeply
concerned" the report might encourage people to smoke marijuana. It's known
that some of the chemicals in marijuana can be useful, he acknowledged, but he
said their place was in inhalers or pill form. "We should not sanction smoked
marijuana, because there is no way to control that," McCollum said.
White House drug adviser Barry McCaffrey said the findings were unlikely to
send pharmaceutical companies scrambling to do research on marijuana.
Gail Willock, a Northeast Portland resident who said she suffers from
degenerative arthritis, calls the report "a fantastic thing."
She has used marijuana medicinally for 12 years, she said, either growing her
own or buying it from dealers. She realizes that buying and selling marijuana
is illegal, but she said she preferred that to using prescription painkillers.
"It's just verifying what people like me who have debilitating conditions have
known (about marijuana) for many, many years," she said of the report. "It does
indeed reduce pain, it does indeed reduce swelling, it does indeed give you
more mobility. "
Patrick O'Neill of The Oregonian staff and The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
You can reach Oz Hopkins Koglin at 503-221-8376 or by e-mail at
ozkoglin@news.Oregonian.com.
***
Medical Marijuana
The study: The federal drug czar asked the private, nonprofit Institute of
Medicine to assess all that is known and not known about the medical
applications of marijuana. It was the first comprehensive review of the
scientific literature on the drug and included new data and interviews with
health care and scientific experts.
What the study found:
The active ingredients in marijuana can help fight pain, ease nausea and
stimulate the appetite, especially in people with cancer or AIDS.
Marijuana's medical effects are generally modest, and for most symptoms
more-effective medicines are already available.
Smoking marijuana can lead to cellular changes associated with lung cancer.
Safer delivery systems, such as inhalers, should be developed.
There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana use leads to abuse of harder
drugs, such as cocaine or heroin.
Data do not support the contention that marijuana should be used to treat
glaucoma.
With the exception of muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, there is little
evidence marijuana can help with disorders such as Parkinson's disease or
Huntington's disease.
People with chronic conditions and no alternative could be permitted to smoke
marijuana, after being informed that they are experimental subjects and are
using a harmful drug-delivery system.
Studies to define the individual health risks of smoking marijuana should be
conducted, particularly among populations in which marijuana use is prevalent.
The medical marijuana law, approved in November, permits its use for cancer,
glaucoma, HIV infection, severe weight loss, pain, nausea, seizures and muscle
spasms. Sick Oregonians were able to begin using marijuana in December, though
the state's regulations won't be in place until May 1.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
National marijuana report doesn't pacify Oregon lawmaker (According to the
Associated Press, state representative Kevin Mannix, the chairman of the
House Judiciary-Criminal Committee and sponsor of a bill that would
eviscerate the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, said that despite the Institute
of Medicine report released Wednesday, "The negative aspects of making
marijuana available strongly outweigh the positives." Only 60 people have
sought to register with the state as patients so far, but Mannix insists
Measure 67 is loosely crafted and full of loopholes.)
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 14:32:10 -0800
From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com)
Organization: Oregon Libertarians Patriots
To: Constitutional Cannabis Patriots (cp@telelists.com)
Subject: [cp] National marijuana report doesn't pacify Fascist MANNIX
National marijuana report doesn't pacify Oregon lawmaker
The Associated Press
3/18/99 3:11 AM
By AMALIE YOUNG
Associated Press Writer
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Backers of the medical marijuana law passed by Oregon
voters last fall say they feel vindicated by a new federal report indicating
pot smoking is helpful to seriously ill people.
But the new study didn't pacify a key Republican lawmaker who still plans to
push a bill to close what he says are loopholes in a loosely-crafted medical
marijuana law.
An advisory panel presented a report to the federal government Tuesday that
indicates the active ingredients in marijuana can help fight pain and nausea
and thus deserve to be tested in scientific trials.
The report also said there was no conclusive evidence that marijuana use
leads to harder drugs.
The report comes four months after Oregon voters passed a measure to legalize
the use of marijuana as medicine.
Geoff Sugerman, spokesman for Oregonians For Medical Rights, the group that
sponsored the measure, said the report deals a blow to the federal
government's longstanding position that pot is a dangerous, addictive drug
with no medical value.
"We've taken the science away from them," he said. "There is nothing left
standing that can justify the government's policy of denying that medical
marijuana works."
Sugerman said the report should open the door for doctors to prescribe
marijuana and patients to set up safe distribution networks.
Rep. Kevin Mannix, however, has said he wants to build more restrictions into
Oregon's medical pot law to target marijuana growers or dealers who might try
to hide behind it.
The Salem Republican said he thinks the law leaves too much room for anyone
to smoke marijuana -- not just those who say they need it to ease the
symptoms of cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses.
The report doesn't satisfy those concerns, he said.
"The negative aspects of making marijuana available strongly outweigh the
positives," he said.
Mannix, who is chairman of the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, said
while he recognizes that voters already stamped their approval to the use of
medical marijuana, he still wants lawmakers to take another look at the law.
The Oregon Health Division reports that so far, 60 Oregonians have formally
declared their intent to use marijuana under the state's new medical
marijuana law.
Under current law, sick Oregonians can use marijuana relieve symptoms of such
debilitating diseases as cancer and AIDS and to alleviate the nausea of
chemotherapy.
To be eligible, a patient must supply documentation from an attending
physician stating that he or she has been diagnosed with a medical condition
with symptoms that might be eased by marijuana.
It's still a crime to buy or sell marijuana. The only legal way for medicinal
marijuana users to obtain the drug is for someone to give it to them free.
Sugerman, the medical marijuana advocate, said he is hopeful the national
report will put an end to efforts by the federal government to thwart the
will of voters in states that have approved the use of medical marijuana.
"It's time for the war on patients to end," he said.
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Confirmed child abuse cases hits record high (The Associated Press says a
report released Wednesday by the State Office for Services to Children and
Families claims the number of child abuse cases rose 4 percent last year to
hit a record high that state officials blame mostly on "drug" use by parents.
Unfortunately, AP doesn't explain how the state of Oregon has merely changed
the definition of what constitutes child abuse, and is devoting all the
resources it can to identifying parents who use cannabis and stealing their
children from them, regardless of how well such children are actually cared
for. And unfortunately, AP doesn't explain the numbers involved, including
the unsustainable cost of the state's ethnic cleansing campaign.)
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Confirmed child abuse cases hits record high
The Associated Press
3/18/99 1:36 AM
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The number of child abuse cases rose 4 percent last
year to hit a record high that state officials blamed mostly on drug use by
parents.
A report released Wednesday by the State Office for Services to Children and
Families said the total number of confirmed child abuse victims was 10,147
in 1998. Of those cases, nearly half involved the most vulnerable children,
those 5 or younger.
"It's very shocking," said Jill Nelson, a foster mother who increasingly
takes care of younger children placed with her. "It's very sad."
Child-protection workers also say that in the past decade, the number of
children entering care whose parents have mental disabilities has doubled.
Those whose parents are criminally involved went from one-fourth to half,
and the number with parents who have drug and alcohol problems moved from
half to 60 percent, according to Portland State University's Child Welfare
Partnership.
But the surge of very young children in foster care -- from 30 percent 10
years ago to 47 percent now -- is partly due to the agency's focus on
children who are least able to protect themselves.
The Best Interest of the Child bill, passed two years ago, mandates that the
agency give abusive and neglectful parents only one year to make their home
safe before their children are placed in permanent adoptive homes.
"We are making sure early on that parents understand -- right up front --
that this is very serious and that things need to change or your child can
be placed in another, permanent situation," said Betty Uchytil, director of
field operations for the child-protective agency.
The agency also is able to respond more swiftly to abused and neglected
children because last legislative session lawmakers approved 163 more hot
line and social workers.
The impact of those workers was marked by a 14 percent increase in the
number of abuse investigations in 1997. In 1998, that figure rose only 0.7
percent to 17,300 cases, because most of those workers had already been
hired. The last few will be on board by April.
If Oregonians want to help children of all ages, they have to better finance
programs that work to help families before problems become serious and
children get hurt, said Ben de Haan, chairman of the board for the
Children's Trust Fund of Oregon, a state agency that funds programs to help
struggling families. It will take more than just hiring more caseworkers, he
said.
The change is seen most clearly in the state's 3,700 foster homes, where the
sound of teen-age phone calls and loud radios has been replaced by lullabies
and toddlers' squeals.
Foster mothers such as Nelson are taking more and more younger children. And
the abuse they see among children younger than 2 is more disturbing than
ever. Nearly all of the 40 children who have passed through Nelson's home
have families ravaged by drugs, she said.
She has seen a child as young as 21 months filled with aggression learned in
a biological home, having learned to survive by biting, screaming and kicking.
"They can be so physically abusive toward one another, just wanting to tear
into everyone and everything," Nelson said.
(c) 1999 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists Back Use Of Marijuana For Medical Therapy (The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer summarizes the Institute of Medicine report released
yesterday.)
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:45:43 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Scientists Back Use Of Marijuana For Medical Therapy
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Contact: editpage@seattle-pi.com
Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/
Author: TOM PAULSON, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
SCIENTISTS BACK USE OF MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL THERAPY
A panel of leading scientists says marijuana should be considered a medical
therapy, confirming a conclusion already reached by many patients, doctors
and voters in Washington and six other Western states.
Yesterday, the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine reported
that marijuana does have potential medical benefits and that further
clinical studies of the drug should be allowed.
"It's going to be interesting to see how the government responds to this,"
said Dr. Robert Killian, the Seattle physician who was the primary sponsor
of the medical marijuana initiative that Washington state voters passed last
fall.
Voters in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon also have
approved ballot measures supporting the medical use of marijuana.
Yesterday, the Washington Senate voted to authorize the state Department of
Health to adopt rules to clarify the medical marijuana law. Certain
provisions of the law are confusing, and prosecutors have asked for
clarification. For example, the law permits medical users to have a 60-day
supply of pot, but law enforcement officials aren't sure how much that is.
The bill passed the Senate 33-12, just barely the two-thirds majority
required to amend an initiative. It now goes to the House, which must also
approve it by a two-thirds majority.
The Institute of Medicine study was requested in January 1997 by Barry
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, who yesterday continued to argue that marijuana has no proven
medical benefit.
But the Institute of Medicine findings were hardly a wholesale endorsement
of marijuana as therapy. "We see little future in smoked marijuana as
medicine," Dr. John Benson Jr. said yesterday. He is dean emeritus of Oregon
Health Science University in Portland and one of the study's lead
scientists.
Emphasizing the hazards of smoking marijuana, the scientists called for
clinical evaluation of active chemicals found in marijuana that appear to
provide health benefits for treating pain, nausea, anorexia and perhaps
muscle disorders. "There is remarkable consensus about the science," Benson
said. Despite the panel's desire to eventually move away from smoking
marijuana, he said there are "some limited circumstances in which we
recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses."
The institute's report constitutes a turnabout from its 1982 review of
claims for medical marijuana, "Marijuana and Health," in which experts found
only weak evidence to support such claims.
"This report was really prompted by the first referenda in California and
Arizona," said Dr. Eric Larson, medical director at the University of
Washington Medical Center and one of the report authors.
The popularity of marijuana as a medical therapy has increased along with
its abuse as an illicit substance, Larson said, which has thrown social and
legal complications into the task of evaluating claims of medical benefit.
But in the mid-1980s, he said, new discoveries opened the way for better
scientific understanding of marijuana and its claimed medical benefits.
Scientists discovered naturally occurring molecules in the brain, known as
receptors, that responded to some of the active chemicals in marijuana,
known as cannibinoids. One cannibinoid is THC, the primary psychoactive
ingredient in marijuana.
These discoveries stimulated further research into the basic biochemistry of
how marijuana acts in the brain.
"We knew nothing about how it worked," said Dr. Ken Mackie, a UW professor
of anesthesiology who studies cannibinoid receptors. Now, Mackie said, it's
become clear the brain has a natural chemical affinity for cannibinoids,
just as it does for opiates.
Bob Weiner, spokesman for McCaffrey, said the White House doesn't support
easing any of the legal restrictions governing the use or distribution of
marijuana yet.
"That would be based on medical evidence, and it's not there yet," Weiner
said. He said the institute's report supported McCaffrey's stance that it is
an addictive substance and a "gateway" drug among youths that leads to more
serious drug abuse.
In the report's executive summary, however, the study's authors say tobacco
and alcohol use appear to be the more common gateways to illicit drug abuse
among youths.
"There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are
causally linked to the subsequent use of other illicit drugs," they wrote.
The study's authors also conclude that "few marijuana users develop
dependence," but that chronic users of the drug do experience a distinct
withdrawal that appears "mild and short-lived."
Dr. Francis Podreberac of Seattle is a psychiatrist and a user of medical
marijuana. In 1995, Podreberac was diagnosed with intestinal cancer as a
complication of HIV infection. The cancer was inoperable, and he had a bowel
obstruction and couldn't eat or drink.
"I was starving to death," Podreberac said. "They tried Marinol (synthetic
THC), but it made me nauseated. . . . The only alternative was to try
smoking marijuana."
He said it reduced the pain and spasms he experienced and allowed him to eat
again. He regained enough strength to withstand chemotherapy, which
successfully beat back the cancer. New anti-HIV drugs have helped to rebuild
his immune system.
"My weight's back and I'm doing fairly good," Podreberac said.
Now that the Institute of Medicine has found enough evidence to support
further clinical evaluation of the therapeutic potential of marijuana, he
said he hopes those who want to fight drug abuse will look elsewhere for
battles.
"The federal government has been interfering with the practice of medicine,"
Podreberac said. "Now I hope they won't stand in the way of medical
progress."
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Pot Farm: Group Serves Ill And Offers Support (The San Jose Mercury News does
a feature article on the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, or WAMM, a
non-profit collective of patients at a tiny medical marijuana farm in
northern Santa Cruz County. While cooperating with law enforcement
authorities, members help the plants thrive, even as they themselves wither
and die. Patients contend the companionship, hard work and soft ocean air are
as valuable as the marijuana. Valerie Corral, who with her husband, Michael,
founded and helps run the group, says "Our model could work throughout the
state. It could work throughout the nation.")
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 11:57:34 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Pot Farm: Group Serves Ill And Offers Support
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Lisa M. Krieger, Mercury News Staff Writer
POT FARM: GROUP SERVES ILL AND OFFERS SUPPORT.
The medicinal marijuana debate
Throughout the nation's contentious debate over marijuana policy, a
collective of patients at a tiny farm in northern Santa Cruz County
have been quietly growing pounds of the drug for use by the sick and
dying.
Working cooperatively with law enforcement authorities, patients share
chores of planting, weeding, watering and harvesting -- helping the
plants thrive, even as they themselves wither and die.
The federal findings released Wednesday simply confirm what these
patients say they have believed for years: Marijuana has therapeutic
benefit.
``I'm so glad that the government has finally heard us,'' said Valerie
Corral, 47, a lifelong gardener who with her husband, Michael, 49,
founded and helps run the non-profit group, called Wo/Men's Alliance
for Medical Marijuana (WAMM).
``Our model could work throughout the state,'' she said. ``It could
work throughout the nation.''
The coastal garden, wheelchair accessible, produces enough marijuana
to provide about 200 local patients with free weekly allotments of up
to one-eighth of an ounce of pot, worth $50 to $85 on the street.
Grown organically, it contains no pesticides or fungicides.
Most members have terminal diseases, such as cancer or AIDS. A few
have glaucoma or painful muscle spasms due to paralysis or
degenerative disease. A doctor's recommendation is required for
membership. These are hardly hippies. They range in age from mid-20s
to 70s. Some are grandmas or grandpas. They include a former
secretary, a deacon, a caterer, a nurse, a computer analyst and a
gas-station attendant.
For some, marijuana helps lessen pain and control spasms. For
others, it restores enfeebled appetites.
``I'm nauseous every single morning. One or two hits in the morning
and I can keep breakfast down,'' said Gary McMillin, 44, of
Corralitos, sickened by anti-viral AIDS medicines.
But it is about more than marijuana. Patients contend the
companionship, hard work and soft ocean air have equal value.
``Many people are ill and lonely,'' McMillin said. ``This gives a lot
of support and camaraderie by finding other people who are shut in and
poor.''
The collective was conceived by Corral after she discovered that
marijuana helped suppress epileptic seizures stemming from a head
injury suffered in a 1973 car crash.
Before trying marijuana, she took a handful of prescription
medications daily. ``I was living under water, 24 hours a day,'' she
recalls.
She found that a single puff of marijuana, smoked quickly when she
sensed an oncoming seizure, offered immediate therapy yet left her
clear-headed for the rest of the day.
Now in improved health, she has made medicinal marijuana a crusade.
She confers routinely with law enforcement and health officials.
``I know them real well,'' said Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Deputy Kim
Pinneli-Allyn. ``They've gone to great lengths to conduct themselves
in a professional way. Of all the groups we've dealt with, theirs is
the most viable, the most genuine.''
With its stated purpose of providing pot to indigent patients and
educational research, the group has been granted non-profit status by
the state. It is supported by member donations.
Tucked away in a green accordion pleat of this foggy coastal clime,
the farm's soil is warming quickly as spring approaches. Selected
seeds are ready for planting. By May, protected in a greenhouse,
sturdy seedlings are culled to separate male from female. One or two
lucky males will survive to create future generations.
They then are transplanted into the garden in neat rows. Labels
indicate variety: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and a
sativa/indica hybrid. The farm keeps genetic records going back over a
decade.
As plants mature, the garden is guarded day and night by patients in a
nearby trailer.
The entire process is labor-intensive. Farm-based experiments show
that the plants flower most abundantly -- boosting yield -- when stems
are pulled to the ground and tied down, forcing new shoots to reach
for the sky. Flowers are pollinated by hand, using
paintbrushes.
By October, the plants will hang heavy with buds and huge sticky-ripe
leaves. The crop is harvested using handsaws, then hung, dried and
manicured of stalks and stems. It is then weighed, sealed in airtight
bags and stored in a safe and secret location, far from the farm.
Patients meet weekly at an undisclosed Santa Cruz location to receive
their allotments.
Only the buds are smoked; leaves are mixed into muffins, brownies or a
milk-based concoction. Stems are composted or set ablaze.
Corral says she hopes the aftermath from the new report will increase
awareness of the broader potential of the drug.
``It opens doors, spiritually, so people can quit running away from
death, and instead stop, turn around and embrace it,'' she said.
``They are no longer so fearful, so clutching.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lockyer Working To Carry Out State's Law (The Sacramento Bee joins the ranks
of California media who continue to maintain that Attorney General Bill
Lockyer is trying to implement Proposition 215, even while letting cases
proceed against dozens if not hundreds of patients, and prison terms to
continue for dozens of patients such as Marvin Chavez.)
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 11:57:28 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Lockyer Working To Carry Out State's Law
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: 18 March 1999
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 1999 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Address: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852
Feedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html
Author: Stephen Green, Bee Capitol Bureau, the Associated Press contributed
to this report.
LOCKYER WORKING TO CARRY OUT STATE'S LAW
California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215 to legalize the
medical use of marijuana by a comfortable margin, but the measure
immediately hit a wall of official resistance.
Then-Attorney General Dan Lungren succeeded in shutting down about
two-thirds of the clubs statewide that were providing marijuana,
arguing that not all of the recipients were ill. And the federal
government, saying the state initiative was superseded by federal
restrictions on the drug, blocked most of Proposition 215 in the courts.
But Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who took office in January, has
been working to enact the law, saying "The attorney general has a duty
to try to effectuate the people's will."
Lockyer, whose mother and sister died of leukemia, added that "it
always amazes me that doctors can prescribe morphine but not marijuana."
Lockyer also is getting support from other Western attorneys general
whose states have passed marijuana measures. Several of them plan to
lobby the federal government during a conference for attorneys general
next week in Washington, D.C., to reclassify the drug so physicians
can legally prescribe it.
In the meantime, Lockyer appointed a 20-member task force of
prosecutors, medical providers, law enforcement officials and patients
to study ways to ensure the drug is never prescribed for purely
recreational purposes.
The task force, co-chaired by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, and
Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, is determining
ways to tighten the law, which has been criticized for not even
listing the types of medical conditions that would trigger a marijuana
prescription. The law was approved by 56 percent of the state's voters.
Even though the task force includes people who've fought over
legalization of the drug, members said they've been working
cooperatively.
"Everybody seems genuinely interested in trying to implement
Proposition 215 in a responsible way," said Scott Imler, director of
the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in West Hollywood.
Christy McCampbell, president of the 7,000-member California Narcotics
Officers Association, echoed Imler's view.
"We are all just trying to reach common ground on how to deal with an
extremely complex issue," said McCampbell, whose organization opposed
Proposition 215 in 1996.
Among options the committee is considering is a proposal for a
statewide registry of medical marijuana patients. The state Department
of Health Services would create the registry and issue identification
cards to medical marijuana users.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Testimony begins in trial of a man accused of growing marijuana (The
Sacramento Bee says testimony was set to begin today in the trial of Robert
Michael Galambos, a Calaveras County man charged with growing 382 pot plants
for himself and to supply a medical marijuana club in Oakland.)
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 17:45:44 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DPFCA (dpfca@drugsense.org)
Subject: DPFCA: US CA SACBEE MMJ: Testimony begins in trial of a man
accused of growing marijuana
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
Source: Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Pubdate: 18 March 1999
TESTIMONY BEGINS IN TRIAL OF A MAN ACCUSED OF GROWING MARIJUANA
SAN ANDREAS, Calif. (AP) -- Testimony was set to begin today in the trial of
a Calaveras County man charged with growing pot to supply a medical
marijuana club in Oakland.
Robert Michael Galambos, 34, was arrested after authorities seized 382
plants and six pounds of processed marijuana during a raid near Paloma in
July 1997.
Some believe Galambos' case is important because it'll clarify provisions of
Proposition 215, which passed in 1996.
Although the initiative legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal
purposes, it doesn't specify how it can be grown or furnished to patients in
need, said Matthew Quirk of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.
Supporters of medical use of marijuana say it can relieve pain and suffering
for people diagnosed with cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.
"We're hoping that (Galambos' case) establishes, once and for all, that you
can distribute medical cannabis to sick people," Quirk said. "We're trying
to establish that there should be a method of distribution that is
sensible."
According to court documents filed by defense attorney Tony Serra, Galambos
believed cannabis clubs were lawful and therefore he could legally grow
marijuana for them.
During jury selection, Serra admitted his client did grow pot, but argued he
was supplying it for people who had a legal right to have it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Report: Marijuana Has Some Benefits (The Orange County Register summarizes
the Institute of Medicine report assessing the efficacy of medical
marijuana.)
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:22:23 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: MMJ: Report: Marijuana Has Some Benefits
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W. Black
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Section: News
Page: 1
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Author: Teri Sforza
REPORT: MARIJUANA HAS SOME BENEFITS
Science: The Advisory Group's Recommendations About Medicinal Usage Won't
Change The Drug's Illegal Status.
The chemicals in marijuana ease pain and nausea, should be tested
rigorously and have a bright future in American medicine, a
prestigious medical panel said Wednesday in a report to the White House.
In the meantime, people with chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea
and AIDS should be allowed to smoke marijuana until a better "drug
delivery system" is developed, the report says.
Scientists envision a day when smoking is obsolete, and marijuana's
active ingredients are delivered via an inhaler.
The widely anticipated report was ordered by drug czar Barry McCaffrey
and conducted by the Institute of Medicine, a private, nonprofit
organization that advises the federal government on health policy. It
could spark a reassessment of the decades-long drive to ban almost all
marijuana use in the United States, observers said.
The report also found that:
While marijuana use often precedes the use of harder drugs, there's no
conclusive evidence that marijuana acts as a "gateway" for the use of
harder drugs.
While chronic users can develop a dependence on marijuana, withdrawal
symptoms are relatively mild and short-lived.
McCaffrey welcomed the report's findings and said the government will
support more research. But smokeable marijuana is not the answer, and
the government will continue to classify the drug as illegal, he said.
"Everyone is looking for a cure these days and pain is seen as a sort
of blurry background," said McCaffrey, who has long opposed relaxing
marijuana laws.
Mission Viejo nurse Anna Boyce, who helped write California's medical
marijuana initiative, was disappointed that the report didn't
recommend reclassifying marijuana. But she was thrilled that it
recognized marijuana's medical potential.
"I have hope," she said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana As Medicine Still Debated Topic (A different Orange County Register
version)
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 03:42:12 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Marijuana As Medicine Still Debated Topic
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W. Black
Pubdate: March 18, 1999
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Section: News page, 19
Author: Teri Sforza
MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE STILL DEBATED TOPIC
Medicine: Report is expected to kick Prop. 215 into high gear although it
cautions against inhaling smoke.
The mission was clear. The questions, straightforward. Can marijuana
relieve health problems? Is it safe for medical use?
Investigators at the Institute of Medicine spent the past 18 months
sorting through the vast and contradictory body of scientific evidence
in search of answers. They held workshops in Irvine, in New Orleans,
in Washington, D.C. They listened to passionate testimonials and dry
data. And Wednesday, they said what many doctors and nurses had long
believed: yes.
"Hot dog!" said Dr. S. Clarke Smith of Anaheim, who became convince of
marijuana's medicinal properties 20 years ago when his beloved
mother-in-law was dying of pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy left her
nauseous, weak and miserable. She was wasting away - until those
"Alice B. Toklas brownies" baked with marijuana.
"For six months she was nausea-free and gained weight," said Smith,
who authored medical association resolutions favoring marijuana for
medical use, and expects the report to make doctors feel more secure
prescribing it. "It's a travesty not to let people with advanced
cancer and wasting syndrome use it."
The IOM report is expected to breathe fresh life into working out the
kinks in California's problematic Proposition 215. Voters passed the
medicinal marijuana initiative in 1996, which allowed doctors to
recommend marijuana to patients. Patients were supposed to be free to
use cannabis without fear of punishment.
It hasn't worked out that way.
Interpretation and enforcement vary widely from county to county, and
the state has yet to work out a distribution system for medicinal
marijuana. While cannabis clubs - which give pot to patients, usually
for a cash donation - operate in Los Angeles with impunity, the head
of Orange County's club sits in jail on a six-year prison sentence.
And the co-director of Orange County's club is heading to trial on
similar charges.
"I hope that this report calms some of the paranoia," said James
Silva, attorney for cannabis club directors Marvin Chavez and Jack
Shachter. "I know that this will influence the climate. I hope it
encourages prosecutors in Orange County to be reasonable and
reconsider the prosecution of patients."
Change is in the air: California's attorney general has called on the
Legislature to modify the medicinal marijuana law and address the
thorny issues of distribution and cannabis clubs. And today, Anna
Boyce will sit down with Orange County Sheriff's Department officials
to discuss how the law is enforced here.
Boyce, the Mission Viejo registered nurse who helped author Prop. 215,
couldn't get the previous sheriff to meet with her.
"I feel more comfortable with the present sheriff," she said. "At
least we have an open-door policy here."
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Ferguson said that the law enforcement
community has always been in favor of medical marijuana - which is
prescribed, administered, dispensed and taken in a "medical manner."
The problem is that California's law is now more akin to "pick some
grass, smoke it and let me know how you feel next week,'" he said.
"What this report makes unequivocal is that marijuana from a vegetable
plant is definitely the negative way to go," he said.
The study was one of the most comprehensive assessments of medical
marijuana ever done and cost the government nearly $900,00. While it
spoke well of the drugs, it also laid out its dangers.
"Marijuana has potential as medicines, but it is undermined by the
fact that patients must inhale harmful smoke," said Dr. Stanley
Watson, a co-chairman of the research panel.
"Until researchers develop a safe and effective delivery system,
caregivers must consider the health problems that can result from
smoking when deciding whether to recommend marijuana to patients,"
Watson said.
The study suggests that marijuana smoking be allowed only through
institutional settings, with prescribing doctors over-seen by other
professionals, and be considered experimental and short term as work
continues on safer delivery mechanisms, such as inhalers.
"Now there will more and more research," said Tom Umberg, a prominent
Orange County Democrat who is deputy director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Science, not politics, should
drive the issue."
MARIJUANA CONTENT HAS VARIOUS USES
Research indicates that the active ingredients in marijuana can be
helpful in treating a wide array of medical conditions:
Pain relief: Three studies on cancer pain have shown that THC, an
active component of marijuana, is as effective as codeine in reducing
pain. THC curved nausea and enhanced feelings of well-being. Studies
on acute pain and migraine headaches have been less conclusive.
Wasting in AIDS patients:
The standard treatment of appetite stimulants has not proven
successful. Marijuana is a promising treatment.
Multiple sclerosis and movement disorders:
There is some evidence that marijuana compounds can help patients have
more motor control.
Epilepsy:
Despite anecdotal reports that marijuana controls epileptic seizures,
there is little evidence to support this.
Alzheimer's disease:
One study showed THC improved appetite and reduced disturbed behavior
in patients.
Glaucoma:
Both marijuana and THC reduce the eyeball pressure but the effect
lasts only a few hours and requires high doses. Other treatments are
more effective.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Study Says Pot Has Medical Value (A staff editorial in the San
Francisco Chronicle summarizes Wednesday's Institute of Medicine report and
says the federal government should put politics aside and sponsor serious
scientific research into pot's potential. Meanwhile, California should find a
way to distribute medical marijuana to patients whose doctors recommend it,
the way Proposition 215 originally intended.)
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 10:25:22 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DPFCA (dpfca@drugsense.org), editor (editor@mapinc.org)
Subject: DPFCA: US CA SFC MMJ EDIT: Federal Study Says Pot Has Medical Value
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: March 18, 1999
(c)1999 San Francisco Chronicle
FEDERAL STUDY SAYS POT HAS MEDICAL VALUE
A LONG-AWAITED report on the medical usefulness of marijuana released
yesterday said the active ingredients in pot can help ease pain and nausea,
and further scientific research is warranted.
The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine stopped well short
of endorsing pot, but it took a scientific look at the evidence and urged
clinical trials to determine its medical worth.
After an 18-month review of the scientific literature on marijuana, the
federal commission said pot is a powerful drug that has potential as
medicine, but its value is limited by the harmful effects of smoking, which
can cause cancer, lung damage and problem pregnancies.
``Beyond the harmful effects from smoking, however, the range of problems
associated with marijuana is not out of line with those of substances used
in other medicines,'' said the report commissioned by the White House drug
policy office.
The report also says there is no conclusive evidence that pot leads to
harder drugs.
For years advocates of medical pot have argued for marijuana as an effective
folk medicine for an array of medical conditions, including cancer, AIDS,
migraine headaches, epilepsy, asthma and chronic pain.
Such prestigious scientific journals as Lancet, New Scientist and the New
England Journal of Medicine have editorialized about the strong evidence
that marijuana works.
In short, the new government report supports many claims of medical
marijuana advocates and argues against prohibitionists who oppose any use of
pot because it is a gateway drug to harder stuff.
Since California became the first state to legalize pot for medical use in
1996 with Proposition 215, voters passed similar measures in Alaska,
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Washington.
For all its reputed benefits, marijuana is a potent intoxicant and should
not be used for recreation. The same can be said of morphine, Valium and a
hundred other drugs available with a doctor's prescription.
The Institute of Medicine report made it clear that marijuana has medical
value. Now the federal government should put politics aside and sponsor
serious scientific research into pot's potential.
Meanwhile, California should find a way to distribute medical marijuana to
patients whose doctors recommend it, the way Proposition 215 originally
intended.
(c) 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A24
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Panel Urges Tests of Medical Pot (A different San Francisco Chronicle
version)
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 10:15:41 -0600
From: "Frank S. World"
Reply-To: compassion23@geocities.com
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
Subject: US CA SFC MMJ: Federal Panel Urges Tests of Medical Pot
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Thursday, March 18, 1999 (c)1999 San Francisco Chronicle
FEDERAL PANEL URGES TESTS OF MEDICAL POT
Drug czar won't ease stance despite findings from study
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer
A science panel commissioned by the Clinton administration called yesterday
for clinical trials of medical marijuana, declaring that cannabis could be a
useful drug but that smoking is a hazardous way to take it.
Begun at the request of President Clinton's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, the
National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine study carefully charts a
middle path through the minefield of American pot politics.
``Smoked marijuana should generally not be recommended for long-term medical
use,'' researchers said. ``Nonetheless, for certain patients such as the
terminally ill or those with debilitating symptoms, the long-term risks are
not of great concern.''
Like other studies that have preceded it, the new report neither encourages
nor condemns the medical use of marijuana. Instead, it calls for more
studies, under rigid controls.
But proponents of laws permitting medical use of marijuana seized on the
report as a thinly veiled endorsement of pot for patients. They call it a
repudiation of McCaffrey, who considers medicinal use of the drug a hoax,
perpetrated by those who want the weed legalized.
``The equivocation is there for political reasons, but the underlying
science is there, too: They clearly support the use of medicinal
marijuana,'' said Bill Zimmerman, executive director of Americans for
Medical Rights, a Santa Monica advocacy group.
McCaffrey's Office of National Drug Control Policy stressed the problems
with medical marijuana spotlighted in the report. In a written response
yesterday, the office declared, ``The study concludes there is little future
in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.''
At a Los Angeles news conference, McCaffrey said there would be no
relaxation of federal policy on medical pot. ``Smokable marijuana is not the
answer,'' McCaffrey said.
He praised the Institute of Medicine study, declaring that it took the issue
out of the political arena and placed it ``firmly in the context of science,
where it belongs.''
Dr. Donald Abrams, a physician at the University of California at San
Francisco who is conducting the only approved study of medical marijuana,
said the latest report has a familiar ring to it. ``I don't know why they
needed to do this again. They did the same thing in 1982 and came up with
similar findings. The National Institutes of Health panel said the same
thing in 1997. . . . I think a million dollars could have been better spent
doing the studies they are proposing.''
However, the panel's tacit recognition that smoking marijuana can help some
patients may embolden more states to pass laws making it legal for patients
to do so. California led the way in 1996, when 56 percent of voters passed
Proposition 215. Last November, similar measures passed in five other
states.
If the Institute of Medicine study provides ammunition for medical marijuana
advocates, however, it doesn't provide much. The beneficial effects of
cannabinoids -- the active ingredients in pot -- were modest, limited and
come at a cost. ``In most cases, there are more effective medications,'' the
researchers wrote.
The scientists cautioned that ``marijuana is not a completely benign
substance,'' calling it a ``powerful drug'' that can cause dependence in
some users and can cause a distinct but mild withdrawal syndrome when use is
stopped. The psychological effects of cannabinoids can be ``disturbing,''
particularly to older patients who have never smoked pot.
Most of the blue-ribbon panel's criticism of medical pot focused on the
unhealthful effects of marijuana smoke, which contains many of the same
cancer-causing agents that are in tobacco.
Consequently, the panel called for development of a device that would
deliver the beneficial effects of marijuana chemicals to patients quickly,
without the smoke. The implicit suggestion is for an inhaler, like those
used to deliver a mist of drugs to asthma sufferers.
``I think the main take-home message from this report is that we prefer to
move away from the plant,'' said report co-author Dr. Stanley Watson at a
Washington, D.C., press conference. ``From the point of view of safety, we
are quite concerned about it.''
But the panel's report also concludes there is no convincing evidence that
marijuana is a ``gateway'' drug that leads to abuse of other, more dangerous
substances; nor was there any proof that sanctioning medical use of
marijuana would increase its nonmedical use among the general population.
Medical pot advocates said those findings are extremely significant.
Marijuana is currently listed in drug enforcement guidelines as a Schedule I
drug, comparable to heroin. Schedule I drugs are both ``dangerous'' and ``of
no medical use.''
The study findings undercut the view that pot is either dangerous or
medically useless -- evidence medical marijuana advocates say supports
reclassifying pot to Schedule II, comparable to drugs such as morphine,
which can be legally prescribed.
Instead, the scientists concluded that evidence from prior studies indicates
``a potential therapeutic value for cannabinoid drugs, particularly for
symptoms such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting and appetite
stimulation.''
The report notes that AIDS patients suffering from wasting syndrome, in
which they lose much of their body mass because of an inability to keep down
foods, ``would likely benefit from a medication that simultaneously reduces
anxiety, pain and nausea while stimulating appetite.''
Currently, the only way for patients to take cannabinoids is to smoke
marijuana, eat it in brownies or cookies, or take a prescription pill,
Marinol, which contains the cannabinoid THC, the primary active ingredient
in marijuana.
Approved by the FDA for cancer patients in 1985, Marinol has racked up
modest sales of $20 million. It can cost patients $200 a month -- a problem
for those without insurance.
But AIDS patients have long insisted that Marinol alone does not provide the
same beneficial effects they get from smoking marijuana. Patients who cannot
hold down food have the same problem with absorbing a swallowed pill or
brownie.
Daniel Zingale, executive director of AIDS Action, the nation's largest AIDS
lobby, said he is pleased with the new study. ``It validates the value of
medicinal marijuana,'' he said. ``I hope it will shed some light on the
politics of this misunderstood therapy.''
MARIJUANA STUDY
The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine made six
recommendations in its study of medical marijuana:
-- Continue research on the differences between natural and synthetic
cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana.
-- Clinical trials should be conducted on safer ways to deliver
cannabinoids, such as use of nasal sprays or inhalers.
-- Studies should examine the psychological effects of medicinal pot, aside
from drug's anti-nausea and appetite-stimulating effects.
-- Long-term health risks of marijuana smoking, such as lung cancer, should
be assessed.
-- Clinical trials of marijuana should be limited to six months and be
limited to patients for which there is ``reasonable expectation of
efficacy.''
-- Rules for trials: Documented failure of other drugs; close medical
supervision of marijuana treatment; 24-hour turnaround on acceptance by
review board of patient admission to study.
(c) 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Report finds medical value in marijuana (The version in the Santa Rosa,
California, Press Democrat)
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 09:19:19 -0800
To: dpfca@drugsense.org, natlnorml@aol.com
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Subject: DPFCA: Santa Rosa Press-Democrat
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
Report finds medical value in marijuana
Smoking not endorsed by U.S. institute
Mar. 18, 1999
By JAMES W. SWEENEY
Press Democrat Staff Writer
The active component of marijuana may effectively counteract pain, nausea and
weight loss for people suffering cancer and AIDS and a number of other
ailments, according to a report issued Wednesday by a panel of medical
experts.
Voters in California and five other Western states approved ballot measures
allowing medical use of marijuana but it is still prohibited by federal law.
The findings by the national Institute of Medicine reflect a near consensus of
scientific opinion, but the issue is certain to remain delicate politically.
"It seems to be a positive step,'' said Marvin Lehrman, co-founder of the
200-member Cannabis Buyers Club in Ukiah.
Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins, who was recently appointed to a
state task force on medical marijuana, said he hopes the study will lead to
federal approval for physicians to prescribe pot.
But the sponsor of a congressional resolution condemning the medical use of
marijuana said he's afraid the report will encourage pot smoking and the White
House drug czar predicted limited interest from pharmaceutical companies.
And the report itself included several caveats.
Among other things, it found little value as a treatment for two of the
maladies most commonly cited by advocates of medical marijuana: migraines and
glaucoma.
The report also warned that smoking creates its own risks and recommended
research to isolate compounds in marijuana that eventually could be given to
patients via inhalers or other fast-acting delivery systems.
"We see little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine,'' said John A. Benson
Jr., a co-author of the Institute of Medicine study and the former dean of
Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine.
While that conclusion drew criticism from medical marijuana advocates in
Northern California, the report's recommendation that marijuana cigarettes be
made available to some patients for short periods and its endorsement of
rigorous clinical trials to test its effectiveness were received as a victory
for their cause.
"It's opened the door at least to proving it,'' said Lynette Shaw of the Marin
Alliance for Medical Marijuana. "There are hundreds of us who need no
convincing.''
Some of that work already is under way at the National Institutes of Health,
which has approved studies of marijuana safety for AIDS patients, of its use
by patients of health maintenance organizations and of its effectiveness in
reducing nausea.
A fourth study, involving marijuana as a pain killer, is expected to be
approved soon.
But officials at the Food and Drug Administration warned that individual
patients aren't likely to receive marijuana until it is proven to be safe.
The federal government provides marijuana to eight people who participated in
a medical testing program more than a decade ago. And voters in California,
Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada have passed laws since 1996
permitting medical use.
Those laws have created conflicts with the Drug Enforcement Administration and
federal prosecutors, who don't recognize the state law. They have used federal
courts to shut down cannabis clubs in San Francisco and Oakland, and
threatened sanctions against physicians who recommend marijuana to their
patients.
It also has proven problematic for local police and prosecutors, who have been
left to sort out who is and is not a legitimate medical user.
A variety of systems are in place across the state, ranging from identity
cards issued by the Arcata Police Department to a panel of doctors in Sonoma
County that reviews cases to determine if someone is eligible for medical use.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer recently appointed a 20-member task force to
recommend ways to ensure that marijuana is only used by legitimate medical
patients. He also is lobbying for changes in federal law.
Mullins, who serves on Lockyer's task force, said he believes Congress should
reclassify marijuana from a strictly prohibited drug to one that can be
prescribed by doctors. "That makes it easy,'' he said. "You can draw a nice
bright line for law enforcement.''
The $900,000 federal report was produced at the request of Gen. Barry
McCaffrey, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy and a leading critic of marijuana use. He issued a statement promising
to study its results.
For patients, the report underscored their belief that marijuana is a
palliative.
"Everybody and anybody can be stricken with anything,'' said Ed Learn, a Santa
Rosa man with AIDS who grows his own marijuana. "If marijuana is the one thing
that can make you feel better, it's worth it.''
In its report, the Institute of Medicine concluded that "cannabinoids,'' the
active compound in marijuana, holds the most potential for easing pain and
nausea caused by AIDS, chemotherapy and nerve damage and is most likely to
benefit people who do not respond to standard drugs, which work in a majority
of cases.
The institute, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences, also warned
that the risks of cancer and low birth-weight babies associated with tobacco
smoking also are present when smoking marijuana. It conceded that Marinol, a
pill form of marijuana's active ingredient, isn't effective for some patients.
It suggested research into an alternative form of delivery, most likely an
inhaler.
***
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.apc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Report Says Marijuana May Be Medically Useful (The version in the Santa Maria
Times, in Santa Maria, California)
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 12:48:15 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Report Says Marijuana May Be Medically Useful
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Santa Maria Times (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Santa Maria Times
Section: Extra
Contact: FAX: 1-805-928-5657
Mail: PO Box 400, Santa Maria, CA 93456-0400
Author: Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
Graphic: 6" x 5" AP Photo: Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, speaks to young students
from Los Angeles and other areas about the medical use of marijuana
during a 90-minute town hall meeting at Channel One studios in Los
Angeles, Wednesday.
REPORT SAYS MARIJUANA MAY BE MEDICALLY USEFUL
WASHINGTON -- Marijuana has medical benefits for people suffering from
cancer and AIDS and should undergo scientific trials to see how it
works best, a panel of medical experts concluded Wednesday in a report
to the federal government.
The drug remains illegal under federal law, despite ballot measures
approving its use in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington. The new report is sharpening debate over its use.
The Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of
Sciences, said marijuana's active ingredients can ease pain, nausea
and vomiting. It urged the development of a standard way to use the
drug, such as an inhaler.
The conclusion was greeted warmly by most marijuana advocates, but
opponents said they worry the report will encourage marijuana use.
"Let us waste no more time in providing this medication through legal,
medical channels to all the patients whose lives may be saved," said
Daniel Zingale of AIDS Action.
But Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., who led the fight to get the House to
condemn medical marijuana last fall, said he is "deeply concerned" the
report might encourage people to smoke marijuana.
It's known that some of the chemicals in marijuana can be useful, he
acknowledged, but their place is in inhalers or pill form. "We should
not sanction smoked marijuana because there is no way to control
that," McCollum said.
"Providing good medicine -- not marijuana -- is the compassionate
response to patients' pain and illnesses," said Robert Maginnis of the
conservative Family Research Council. He insisted doctors have other
medicines to treat any ailment that marijuana can help.
White House drug adviser Barry McCaffrey said the findings are
unlikely to send pharmaceutical companies scrambling to do research on
marijuana. "Our experience is there is little market interest,"
McCaffrey said.
Ironically, the new analysis was requested and paid for by McCaffrey's
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, after an expert
panel formed by the National Institutes of Health concluded in 1997
that some patients could be helped by marijuana, mainly cancer and
AIDS victims.
At the White House, spokesman Joe Lockhart said: "What we found out is
that there may be some chemical compounds in marijuana that are useful
in pain relief or anti-nausea, but that smoking marijuana is a crude
delivery system. So I think what this calls for ... is further research."
That's already under way at the NIH, which is running three studies of
smoked marijuana and expects to approve a fourth this year.
One study looks at marijuana's safety in people with AIDS, a second is
checking the extent of medical marijuana use by patients of health
maintenance organizations and the third is studying marijuana's
ability to reduce nausea. Nearing approval is a study of marijuana's
effect on pain.
The National Cancer Institute is looking into the comparative value of
a pill form of marijuana vs. a hormone in reducing nausea.
Breaking ranks with the pro-medical marijuana groups was the National
Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, which condemned the report
as "tepid."
"Clearly, the time has come for this administration to amend federal
law to allow seriously ill patients immediate legal access," said
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the NORML Foundation.
The arguments over using marijuana as a medication have grown
particularly intense in the last few years in western states where
supporters got initiatives on the ballot to legalize the practice.
Voters in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington
have approved measures in support of medical marijuana.
But the drug remains banned by federal law and doctors may be wary of
prescribing it, even in those states.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana Has Treatment Value, Study Finds (The Los Angeles Daily News
version)
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 19:52:39 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Marijuana Has Treatment Value, Study Finds
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Los Angeles Daily News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Daily News Los Angeles
Contact: DNLAForum@aol.com
MARIJUANA HAS TREATMENT VALUE, STUDY FINDS
The active ingredients in marijuana appear to be useful for treating
pain, nausea and the severe weight loss associated with AIDS,
according to a new study commissioned by the government that is
intensifying the contentious debate over whether doctors should be
permitted to prescribe the drug.
The report, the most comprehensive analysis to date of the medical
literature about marijuana, said there was no evidence that giving the
drug to sick people would increase illicit use in the general
population. Nor is marijuana a "gateway drug" that prompts patients to
use harder drugs like cocaine and heroin, the study said.
The authors of the study, a panel of 11 independent experts at the
Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences,
cautioned that the benefits of smoking marijuana were limited because
the smoke itself was so toxic. Yet at the same time, they recommended
that the drug be given, on a short-term basis under close supervision,
to patients who did not respond to other therapies.
The release of the delicately worded report, at a morning press
conference in Washington, prompted a flurry of political maneuvering.
Proponents of state initiatives to legalize marijuana for medical
purposes seized upon the findings as long-awaited evidence that it had
therapeutic value. They called on the Clinton administration, and in
particular Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, which requested the study, to ease its steadfast
opposition to the initiatives.
"This report has proved McCaffrey wrong," said Chuck Thomas, a
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit organization
in Washington that lobbies for the legalization of medical marijuana.
"We never said marijuana was a panacea and a be-all or end-all. What
we have said is there are some patients who don't respond to existing
medications, and this report confirms that."
But the study is unlikely to change the administration's position. The
Department of Health and Human Services, which is already financing
some research involving medical marijuana, issued a written statement
noting simply that it would continue to fund the work. And McCaffrey,
speaking in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, said, "This study
seems to suggest that there is little future in smoked marijuana."
McCaffrey politely praised the analysis as a "superb piece of work"
and said he would take the recommendations under advisement. But he
said there was "enormous confusion in law enforcement" about how to
handle the issue, and added, "We've got people with mischievous
agendas at work."
Toxic smoke
While the study's authors said they had been surprised to discover "an
explosion of new scientific knowledge about how the active components
of marijuana affect the body," they added pointedly that the future of
marijuana as a medicine does not lie in smoking it. Marijuana smoke,
they said, is even more toxic than tobacco smoke, and can cause
cancer, lung damage and complications during pregnancy.
The true benefits of marijuana, the experts said, would only be
realized when alternative methods, like capsules, patches and
bronchial inhalers, were developed to deliver its active components,
called cannabinoids, to the body without the harmful effects of smoke.
So far, there is only one cannabinoid-based drug on the market,
Marinol, manufactured by Unimed of Somerville, N.J. It comes in pill
form and was approved in May 1985 by the Food and Drug Administration
for nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, as well as for
anorexia and weight loss associated with AIDS. Some patients have
complained that marinol is more expensive than marijuana and that they
do not feel its effects as quickly.
The researchers recommended that the government pay for research that
would speed up the development of more cannabinoid drugs, and were
particularly keen on the promise of inhalers. But, recognizing that
such methods might take years to perfect, they also recommended that
people who did not respond to other therapy be permitted to smoke
marijuana in the interim.
"Marijuana should only be smoked in circumstances where the long-term
risks are not of great concern, such as for terminally ill patients or
those with debilitating symptoms that do not respond to approved
medications," said Dr. John A. Benson Jr., former dean of Oregon
Health Sciences University School of Medicine and one of the study's
two lead authors. "Even in these cases, smoking should be limited to
carefully controlled situations."
Benson and his co-author, Dr. Stanley J. Watson Jr. of the Mental
Health Research Institute of the University of Michigan, presented
their findings in a stately wood-paneled lecture hall at the Institute
of Medicine in Washington, D.C. As the two scientists spoke, a handful
of people sat quietly in the audience, wearing fire-engine red
T-shirts with white block lettering that blared: "Medical Marijuana
Patient."
Personal testimony
Among them was Jim Hardin, a 48-year-old Virginia man who testified
before the panel and whose story was among several personal anecdotes
included in the report. Hardin suffers from Hepatitis C, a disease
that is destroying his liver, and uses a wheelchair. He said smoking
marijuana helped him cope with the intense nausea and rapid weight
loss the disease has caused.
"I lost 95 pounds," Hardin said. "I tried everything: 35 different
pills. Finally doctors told me to go to Europe and try marijuana." He
did just that, in November 1997, visiting the Netherlands, where a
doctor prescribed one to two grams of marijuana per day. Here in the
United States, Hardin said, he obtains the drug "from a network of
care providers that are willing to grow a safe and clean cannabis."
Also in the audience was Joyce Nalepka of America Cares, a parents'
antidrug group based in Maryland that has been critical of efforts to
legalize marijuana for medical use.
"I'm concerned about the message we are sending," Nalepka said. "Kids
interpret things differently than adults. What they're going to hear
is, Marijuana is good for something."
The report contained some surprising findings. It concluded that,
despite popular belief, marijuana was not useful in treating glaucoma.
While the drug can reduce some of the eye pressure associated with
glaucoma, the effects were short-lived, the report found, and did not
outweigh the long-term hazards of using the drug.
In addition, the study found that there was little evidence for
marijuana's potential in treating movement disorders like Parkinson's
disease or Huntington's disease, but that it was effective in
combating the muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.
So far, voters in seven states - California, Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - have approved initiatives
intended to make marijuana legal for medical purposes. But doctors are
often afraid to write prescriptions because the federal government has
threatened to prosecute them, and patients often have difficulty
obtaining the drug, in part because the government has moved to shut
the marijuana buyers clubs that had been distributing it. In the
District of Columbia, meanwhile, the November ballot contained a
proposal to legalize medical marijuana, but Congress intervened and
prevented the vote from being counted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Study Sees Limited Medicinal-Marijuana Role (The San Jose Mercury News
version)
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:43:22 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Study Sees Limited Medicinal-Marijuana Role
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Danny Terwey (prohibitionsucks@hotmail.com)
Pubdate: Thur, 18 Mar 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Usha Lee McFarling and Howard Mintz, Mercury News Staff Writers
STUDY SEES LIMITED MEDICINAL-MARIJUANA ROLE
WASHINGTON -- Stepping into the fractious debate about medicinal marijuana,
a federal panel of independent scientists recommended Wednesday that
marijuana cigarettes be made available for short periods to help cancer and
AIDS patients who can find no other relief for their severe pain and nausea.
But the $900,000 report, commissioned by White House drug czar Barry
McCaffrey and issued by the Institute of Medicine, does little to
immediately resolve the legal gridlock that has kept the medicinal-pot
movement on the run in California since voters approved Proposition 215 in
1996.
``There needs to be more evidence for it to have any influence on law
enforcement policy,'' said Brian Steel, an official of the U.S. Justice
Department, which shut down six Northern California marijuana clubs, saying
federal drugs laws took precedence over the California initiative.
An explosion of new scientific research, as well as patient anecdotes, shows
that compounds in marijuana have potential to ease some of medicine's most
intractable problems, the report said.
A warning on smoking
But its authors warned that smoking marijuana carries its own health
hazards -- including potential lung damage and low-birth-weight babies --
and that marijuana cigarettes should be used only as a last resort after
standard therapies have failed.
Psychological dependency was seen as a relatively minor problem, likely to
affect only a few users. The scientists also concluded that there is no
biochemical basis for the belief that marijuana leads to subsequent abuse of
other illicit drugs.
To avoid the harmful effects of smoke, they called for new delivery systems,
like inhalers, and for the development of pharmaceutical drugs made from or
modeled after the active ingredients in marijuana, chemicals known as
cannabinoids.
``Marijuana's future as a medicine does not involve smoking,'' said Dr.
Stanley Watson, a neuroscientist and substance-abuse expert from the
University of Michigan who co-wrote the report. ``It involves exploiting the
potential in cannabinoids.''
McCaffrey, a foe of medicinal pot, ordered the study by a branch of the
National Academy of Sciences after calls for a new federal policy on the
drug. The findings were seen as a victory by many who advocate the use of
marijuana as medicine.
``It's a discreet but clear call to make marijuana available,'' said Ethan
A. Nadelman, who directs the Lindesmith Center, a New York-based drug-policy
think tank.
AIDS patient John Petersen of Scotts Valley welcomed the report, saying it
confirmed his experience with pot. ``My legs feel like when you step into a
hot tub, burning really bad. But there's something in the (marijuana)
chemical that releases the pain. I am so grateful for it.''
Battles over medicinal marijuana have intensified over the past three years.
Proposition 215 removed any state penalties for people who used marijuana
for medicinal purposes. Since then, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada and
Washington state have passed laws permitting use of medicinal marijuana.
California's new Attorney General Bill Lockyer -- unlike his predecessor --
has urged local law enforcement officials to make Proposition 215 work. He
is scheduled to go to Washington, D.C., later this month with attorneys
general from other states with similar laws to press for changes in federal
policy.
Clarification needed
The report may also give the state Legislature reason to clarify Proposition
215. The proposition, officials say, never offered guidance on how patients
could get medicinal pot without breaking the law.
``It's going to make it easier for the Legislature to move forward,'' said
Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the Santa Monica-based Americans for
Medical Rights, which has helped organize medicinal-marijuana ballot
initiatives around the country.
Whatever happens in Sacramento, however, will have limited impact on
patients' ability to find legitimate distributors of medicinal pot if the
Justice Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration do not step
aside.
``State law does not and will not pre-empt federal law,'' U.S. Justice
Department official Steel repeated Wednesday.
In a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, a San Francisco federal judge
last year concluded that six Northern California marijuana clubs had to
close because federal drug laws trumped their ability to operate under
Proposition 215. That ruling is scheduled to be reviewed next month by a
federal appeals court.
Few operations around the state have survived law enforcement crackdowns on
medicinal-marijuana clubs. Gone are clubs such as Proposition 215 author
Dennis Peron's Market Street operation in San Francisco, which served 9,000
clients.
In Santa Clara County, the local cannabis club, originally supported by
local officials, has been closed for a year while its former director, Peter
Baez, faces pot-distribution charges filed by the district attorney's
office.
The town of Arcata continues to run a system for distributing medicinal pot
under the supervision of the local police chief. The Oakland club no longer
dispenses marijuana, but is helping patients find the drug.
Senator wants action
State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, said the study should influence
that debate.
``The federal government, which has relied on ignorance to justify its
opposition to medicinal marijuana, has no excuse now to block expeditious
efforts to get this medicine into the hands of our citizens,'' said
Vasconcellos, a strong supporter of Proposition 215.
Many mainstream medical organizations, and the relatively conservative New
England Journal of Medicine, have endorsed the use of medicinal marijuana.
But last fall, Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning it.
And many physicians are reluctant to prescribe it, even in states that have
passed initiatives.
``There are so many strictures on doctors, so much uncertainty on the part
of licensing boards . . . that nothing's happened,'' said Dr. John A. Benson
Jr., the report's other co-author.
In campaigning against pot initiatives, McCaffrey said that there was no
proof marijuana had medical benefits; that it was a gateway drug that led to
abuse of drugs like heroin; and that allowing marijuana to be used as
medicine would increase illicit recreational marijuana use.
The study addressed McCaffrey's arguments directly. Its authors found no
evidence that marijuana use led people to progress to harder drugs or that
medicinal use brought increases in recreational use.
In a statement, McCaffrey said he would study the report's conclusions. He
emphasized that there is some evidence that marijuana is addictive and can
lead to further drug use. He left it to the nation's health agencies to
judge whether more patients should be provided with marijuana cigarettes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Medicinal Marijuana Debate: Pot Proponents Gain A Victory (A different
San Jose Mercury News account focuses on the IOM report's implications for
medical marijuana policies in California.)
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 07:23:26 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: The Medicinal Marijuana Debate, Pot Proponents Gain A
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Usha Lee McFarling and Howard Mintz, Mercury News Staff Writers
THE MEDICINAL MARIJUANA DEBATE POT PROPONENTS GAIN A VICTORY
WASHINGTON -- Stepping into the fractious debate about medicinal
marijuana, a federal panel of independent scientists recommended
Wednesday that marijuana cigarettes be made available for short
periods to help cancer and AIDS patients who can find no other relief
for their severe pain and nausea.
But the $900,000 report, commissioned by White House drug czar Barry
McCaffrey and issued by the Institute of Medicine, does little to
immediately resolve the legal gridlock that has kept the medicinal-pot
movement on the run in California since voters approved Proposition
215 in 1996.
"There needs to be more evidence for it to have any influence on law
enforcement policy," said Brian Steel, an official of the U.S. Justice
Department, which shut down six Northern California marijuana clubs,
saying federal drugs laws took precedence over the California initiative.
An explosion of new scientific research, as well as patient anecdotes,
shows that compounds in marijuana have potential to ease some of
medicine's most intractable problems, the report said.
A warning on smoking
But its authors warned that smoking marijuana carries its own health
hazards -- including potential lung damage and low-birth-weight babies
-- and that marijuana cigarettes should be used only as a last resort
after standard therapies have failed.
Psychological dependency was seen as a relatively minor problem,
likely to affect only a few users. The scientists also concluded that
there is no biochemical basis for the belief that marijuana leads to
subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.
To avoid the harmful effects of smoke, they called for new delivery
systems, like inhalers, and for the development of pharmaceutical
drugs made from or modeled after the active ingredients in marijuana,
chemicals known as cannabinoids.
"Marijuana's future as a medicine does not involve smoking," said Dr.
Stanley Watson, a neuroscientist and substance-abuse expert from the
University of Michigan who co-wrote the report. "It involves
exploiting the potential in cannabinoids."
McCaffrey, a foe of medicinal pot, ordered the study by a branch of
the National Academy of Sciences after calls for a new federal policy
on the drug. The findings were seen as a victory by many who advocate
the use of marijuana as medicine.
"It's a discreet but clear call to make marijuana available," said
Ethan A. Nadelman, who directs the Lindesmith Center, a New York-based
drug-policy think tank.
AIDS patient John Petersen of Scotts Valley welcomed the report,
saying it confirmed his experience with pot. "My legs feel like when
you step into a hot tub, burning really bad. But there's something in
the (marijuana) chemical that releases the pain. I am so grateful for
it."
Battles over medicinal marijuana have intensified over the past three
years. Proposition 215 removed any state penalties for people who used
marijuana for medicinal purposes. Since then, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon,
Nevada and Washington state have passed laws permitting use of
medicinal marijuana.
California's new Attorney General Bill Lockyer -- unlike his
predecessor -- has urged local law enforcement officials to make
Proposition 215 work. He is scheduled to go to Washington, D.C., later
this month with attorneys general from other states with similar laws
to press for changes in federal policy.
Clarification needed
The report may also give the state Legislature reason to clarify
Proposition 215. The proposition, officials say, never offered
guidance on how patients could get medicinal pot without breaking the
law.
"It's going to make it easier for the Legislature to move forward,"
said Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the Santa Monica-based
Americans for Medical Rights, which has helped organize
medicinal-marijuana ballot initiatives around the country.
Whatever happens in Sacramento, however, will have limited impact on
patients' ability to find legitimate distributors of medicinal pot if
the Justice Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration do
not step aside.
"State law does not and will not pre-empt federal law," U.S. Justice
Department official Steel repeated Wednesday.
In a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, a San Francisco federal
judge last year concluded that six Northern California marijuana clubs
had to close because federal drug laws trumped their ability to
operate under Proposition 215. That ruling is scheduled to be reviewed
next month by a federal appeals court.
Few operations around the state have survived law enforcement
crackdowns on medicinal-marijuana clubs. Gone are clubs such as
Proposition 215 author Dennis Peron's Market Street operation in San
Francisco, which served 9,000 clients.
In Santa Clara County, the local cannabis club, originally supported
by local officials, has been closed for a year while its former
director, Peter Baez, faces pot-distribution charges filed by the
district attorney's office.
The town of Arcata continues to run a system for distributing
medicinal pot under the supervision of the local police chief. The
Oakland club no longer dispenses marijuana, but is helping patients
find the drug.
Senator wants action
State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, said the study should
influence that debate.
"The federal government, which has relied on ignorance to justify its
opposition to medicinal marijuana, has no excuse now to block
expeditious efforts to get this medicine into the hands of our
citizens," said Vasconcellos, a strong supporter of Proposition 215.
Many mainstream medical organizations, and the relatively conservative
New England Journal of Medicine, have endorsed the use of medicinal
marijuana.
But last fall, Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning
it. And many physicians are reluctant to prescribe it, even in states
that have passed initiatives.
"There are so many strictures on doctors, so much uncertainty on the
part of licensing boards . . . that nothing's happened," said Dr. John
A. Benson Jr., the report's other co-author.
In campaigning against pot initiatives, McCaffrey said that there was
no proof marijuana had medical benefits; that it was a gateway drug
that led to abuse of drugs like heroin; and that allowing marijuana to
be used as medicine would increase illicit recreational marijuana use.
The study addressed McCaffrey's arguments directly. Its authors found
no evidence that marijuana use led people to progress to harder drugs
or that medicinal use brought increases in recreational use.
In a statement, McCaffrey said he would study the report's
conclusions. He emphasized that there is some evidence that marijuana
is addictive and can lead to further drug use. He left it to the
nation's health agencies to judge whether more patients should be
provided with marijuana cigarettes.
Mercury News Staff Writer Lisa M. Krieger contributed to this report.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for March 12-18