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23 Cards in this Set
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In March 1999, the U.S. government-sponsored Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report concluded on Page 179:
"Until a nonsmoked rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting...*[in those patients who have not responded to standard approved therapy]." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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DEA Administrative Law Judge Young wrote in 1988:
"In many cases doctors have found that, in addition to suppressing nausea and vomiting, smoking marijuana is a highly successful appetite stimulant. The importance of appetite stimulation in cancer therapy cannot be overstated. Patients receiving chemotherapy often lose tremendous amounts of weight. They endanger their lives because they lose interest in food and in eating. The resulting sharp reduction in weight may well affect their prognosis. Marijuana smoking induces some patients to eat…This allows them to retain strength and makes them better able to fight the cancer. By gaining control over their severe nausea and vomiting these patients undergo a change of mood and have a better mental outlook than patients who, using the standard anti-emetic [anti-vomiting] drugs, are unable to gain such control." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Lester Grinspoon, M.D., an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, wrote in an 8/17/03 article published in the Boston Globe:
"In a recent poll conducted by Medscape, a website directed at health care providers, 76 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses said they thought marijuana should be available as a medicine." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Gabriel Nahas, M.D., Ph.D., wrote in a March, 1997 editorial published in the Wall Street Journal:
"In this instance [for the terminally ill], the use of marijuana can no longer be considered a therapeutic intervention but one of several procedures used to ease the ebbing of life of the terminally ill. But for this purpose doctors should prescribe antiemetic and analgesic therapies of proven efficacy, rather than marijuana smoking. This therapeutic course is not based on bureaucratic absolutism, political correctness, or reflexive ideology -- but on scientific knowledge and the humane practice of medicine." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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John Walters, Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, wrote in an OpEd article in the National Review, published on 9/27/04::
"The truth is, there are laws against marijuana because marijuana is harmful. With every year that passes, medical research discovers greater dangers from smoking it, from links to serious mental illness to the risk of cancer, and even dangers from in utero exposure. In fact, given the new levels of petency and the sheer prevalence of marijuana (the number of users contrasted with the munber of those using cocaine or heroin), a case can be made that marijuana does the most social harm of any illegal drug." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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According to the U.S. government's 1999 IOM Report, on Pages 126-127:
"Marijuana is not a completely benign substance. It is a powerful drug with a variety of effects. However, except for the harm associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications. Thus, the safety issues associated with marijuana do not preclude some medical uses." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Joycelyn Elders, M.D., former U.S. Surgeon General, wrote in a 3/26/04 editorial published in The Providence Journal in Rhode Island:
"Marijuana does not need to be smoked. Some patients prefer to eat it, while those who need the fast action and dose control provided by inhalation can avoid the hazards of smoke through simple devices called vaporizers. For many who need only a small amount -- such as cancer patients trying to get through a few months of chemotherapy -- the risks of smoking are minor." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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The 1997 Legislation/policy analysis by the Rand Corporation; "Drug Warriors and Policy Reformers: The Debate Over Medical Marijuana", published in the Rand Drug Policy Research Center Newsletter (Vol:6 Issue:1 June 1997) stated:
"The medical use of marijuana provokes sharp controversy outside the scientific community. If marijuana is made medically available, however, the quantities prescribed are likely to be miniscule compared to what is sold on the black market. In this sense, the medical use of marijuana poses no threat to drug control." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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A 6/27/03 Reuters article by Deena Beasley reported on a study that is planned for publication in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. The Reuters article reported the following:
"Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage, researchers from the University of California at San Diego said on Friday [6/27/03] in a study. 'The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more impairment of higher mental function,' said Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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"Results Of 1,601 young adults, 115 met criteria for cannabis dependence. Male gender, regular cannabis use and persistent cigarette smoking independently predicted cannabis dependence. Neither smoking severity nor persistent psychiatric morbidity independently predicted dependence. Regular cannabis use increased risk only in the absence of persistent problematic alcohol use.
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Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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DEA special agent Richard Meyer of the San Francisco field office stated in Alternet News on April 16, 2002:
"Any cultivation, possession, and distribution of marijuana is illegal under federal law. It is our job is to enforce those laws and we will." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Richard Beada, a criminal attorney, wrote to MedMJpro/con:
"Yes, because although some State laws allow the use of medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, under Federal law it is still possible to be criminally prosecuted for possession of even a small amount of marijuana and even with a doctor's recommendation. |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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James Steward Campbell, M.D., a medical practitioner in Pfafftown, North Caroline, wrote MedMJpro/con:
"When I got my first federal controlled drug prescribing certificate in 1971, it stated across the top that it was for prescribing Coca, Opium, and Cannabis substances. I can still prescribe Coca and Opium under the new DEA certificate, but the comparatively non-toxic Cannabis is forbidden. |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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the first amendment and the doctrine of medical privacy give me, a physician, the right to recommend ANYTHING I deem appropriate to a patient for their care, including any substance or treatment available on the planet. The patient, however, may not be able to obtain the suggested treatment, either through laws, regulations, health plans, or other obstacles.
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Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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The Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit group, told MedMJpro/con:
"The procedures for qualifying as a patient who can use medical marijuana under state law varies from state to state. Generally, patients need written documentation from their physician stating that they have a qualifying medical condition and that the potential medical benefits of marijuana likely outweigh the health risks." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use.5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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From the January 1998 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Subcommittee report on their practice and costs of growing marijuana and supplying it to researchers, the DEA and 7 individuals:
"The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) administers a contract with the University of Mississippi to grow cannabis for research purposes and is the only legal source for cannabis [marijuana] in the United States. NIDA also supplies cannabis to seven patients under single patient so-called 'compassionate use' Investigational New Drug Applications (IND). |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use.5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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The University of Mississippi has the option to grow either 1.5 or 6.5 acres of cannabis per year or to not grow any, depending on demand.
Generally (as of January 1998) 1.5 acres are grown in alternate years which can typically produce 50,000-60,0001 cigarettes per year of three grades of potencies [strength 1: 3-4% thc; strength 2: 1.8-2.2% thc; strength 3: placebo, as close to 0% as possible]. Virtually all of the nearly 65,000 cigarettes produced between 1994-1996 were for single patients. |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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A May 2, 2003 press release by California NORML stated:
"Harmful toxins in marijuana smoke can be effectively avoided by a vaporization device.." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Kevin A. Sabet, Sr. Speechwriter for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, told MedMJPro/Con on 1/22/04:
"Smoked marijuana has no reliable dosage." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Mr. Sabet also noted the following:
As you know, smoked marijuana is not a medicine since it has failed to pass the scientific trials needed for it to go to market. As a result, marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance, as defined by the Controlled Substances Act. The use, under any circumstance minus FDA-sponsored government trials, of a Schedule I drug, remains illegal. |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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Donald Abrams, M.D. et al., in their research paper "Medical Cannabis: Rational Guidelines for Dosing," published January 2004 on CannabisMD, wrote:
"Route of administration is an important determinant... Typically, cannabis is smoked as a cigarette weighing between 0.5 and 1.-0 g.... The main advantage of smoking is rapid onset of effect and easy dose titration. When cannabis is smoked, cannabinoids in the form of an aerosol in the inhaled smoke are absorbed and delivered to the brain rapidly, as would be expected of a highly lipid-soluble drug." |
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 2 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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"An experienced cannabis smoker can titrate and regulate dose to obtain the desired acute effects and to minimize undesired effects. Each puff delivers a discrete dose of cannabinoids to the body. Puff and inhalation volume changes with phase of smoking, tending to be highest at the beginning and lowest at the end of smoking a cigarette."
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Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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"Smoking anything, including cannabis, is not healthy for the lungs and airway system. A healthier option may be vaporization. Because cannabinoids are volatile, they will vaporize at a temperature much lower than actual combustion."
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Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Medical Value and Use. 5 December 2004 <www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org>
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