Ä [28] NORML (1:375/48) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ NORML Ä Msg : #3197 [50] + 3198 From : Floyd Ferris Landrath 1:105/27 Mon 17 Jan 94 21:54 To : All Subj : MEDICAL CANNABIS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ American Anti-Prohibition League 4017 SE Belmont Street, Box 103 Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. 97214 (503) 235-4524 Floyd Ferris Landrath -- Director MEDICAL CANNABIS Some people hold very strong OPINIONS on the issue of allowing ill people to use cannabis for medical reasons. As advocates, I and my colleagues also hold equally strong OPINIONS on the subject. In regards to cannabis use for "wasting syndrome" associated with AIDS and cancer chemotherapy, while some groups like the American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association do not accept marijuana as medically useful, that doesn't really tell the whole story. Consider a Harvard study done in 1990; researchers Richard Doblin and Dr. Mark Kleimann reported 48 per cent of 2,430 cancer specialist from the American Society for Clinical Oncology said they would prescribe cannabis if made available, and 44 per cent admitted they had already recommended it, albeit illegally, to at least one patient. I have heard those who oppose medical cannabis say things like, "There is no evidence that use of the marijuana leaf or plant, especially in smoked form, is any more beneficial than Marinol.", (synthetic THC). While this statement may sound logical, it is not. If there is no evidence it's because there have been no comparison studies. Also, it should be noted, the National Cancer Institute seems to take another view. In a 1992 fact-sheet titled 'Marijuana for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting', they write: "...THC is more readily and quickly absorbed from marijuana smoke than from an oral preparation of the substance." Imagine attempting to swallow a THC pill while in the midst of a convulsive vomiting bout. It is also important to remember, since 1976, the federal government has provided cannabis to a small number of people for medical reasons under the "Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program. Though 9 people still receive legal cannabis, new applications for IND are no longer being accepted. Nonetheless, the IND program means the government implicitly acknowledges cannabis' utility in the treatment of glaucoma, chemotherapy nausea, chronic pain, the AIDS wasting syndrome and spasm disorders. In addition to the federal government, 35 states have endorsed the use of medical cannabis. During the early 80s California, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, New York and Tennessee provided nearly 800 patients with medical cannabis. Yet, since then, federal bureaucratic interference and expense led to the closing of these programs. From Main to California, local measures advocating the medical use of cannabis continue to enjoy overwhelming support. In San Francisco in 1991, proposition "P" passed with 80 per cent of the vote. In 1992, Santa Cruz County passed a similar initiative with 77 per cent. There are dozens of others that have also been passed across the nation. Even the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young ruled in September 1988, that "One must reasonably conclude that there is accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision. To conclude otherwise...would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious...." At the time, Judge Young opened the door to making cannabis legal to prescribe by rescheduling it from Schedule I to Schedule II. Then DEA head, John C. Lawn refused to act, hence this debate continues today. Yet when all is said and done, after all the countless studies, after all the doctors, associations and activists have had their say on this issue; we are left with the obvious: some people, probably way more than we realize, use cannabis to self-medicate themselves for various reasons. To these people, all our arguments - no matter how well written or put together - are so much sand in the wind. These people have made up their minds, they will use cannabis. Legal or not! It's time for our law makers to make cannabis legal again; the first place they should start is on the medical issue, then the industrial uses (like paper) and finally for personal recreational use. Relegalizing [sic] cannabis, to my mind, is the key to reform of all our drug policies. It will show us that we can do it and society will not crumble. --- Blue Wave/RA v2.10 [NR] * Origin: My Addiction! (503)230-0672 (1:105/27)