cannabisnews.com: Sparking Up the Medical-Marijuana Debate! Sparking Up the Medical-Marijuana Debate! Posted by FoM on May 06, 1999 at 06:39:31 PT Source: Boston Phoenix There's a thick cloud of smoke trailing US drug czar General Barry McCaffrey these days: a recent government-funded report on medical marijuana that concluded, among other things, that marijuana possesses "potential therapeutic value" for people suffering from cancer, AIDS wasting, and other serious illnesses. Released in March, the $896,000 report, directed by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and authorized by McCaffrey himself, was widely seen as embarrassing to the drug czar, who had previously derided medical marijuana as a "cruel hoax that sounds like something out of a Cheech and Chong show."D'oh. After piling on the rhetoric, General McCaffrey, whose official title is Director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, now finds himself spinning and backpedaling at the same time. While gently praising the IOM report, he plays down its conclusions about therapeutic effectiveness, and continues to insist that medical marijuana is a "peripheral issue" in the national drug-policy debate."I think he's shuffling pretty fast," says Tom Clark, an epidemiologist with Health Addictions Research, Inc., a Boston-based drug-abuse research group. "He's poking his way around various minefields, because the IOM report's findings are not what he wanted to hear."Critics such as Clark believe that McCaffrey's hesitancy to embrace marijuana's potential as medicine undermines his credibility with the public, which is increasingly supportive of medical marijuana. Surveys have consistently shown that between 60 and 80 percent of Americans back legalization for medical purposes. Voters in seven states have approved measures legalizing medical marijuana, with more states expected to put it to a vote this November.Click the above link for the whole article! Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by Twix on December 13, 1999 at 09:39:41 PT: WEED I love to smoke yummmmm!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 06, 1999 at 08:24:07 PT Finally.. Your right the hidden agenda is the money that lines the pockets of all those that make money off of keeping marijuana illegal. The forfeiture laws are really something else! It is beyond me that someone could have their home seized over a God Given Plant!Peace not WoDS, FoM! Forfeiture Endangers American's Rights! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by oldlady#420 on May 06, 1999 at 07:16:59 PT Finally.. You know just because Clinton is in the White House doesn't mean that everybody he has appointed is worth a damn. Lately we have seen media bashes against William Cohen and Madeline Albright. These outburst don't surprise me about McCaffrey. He needs to let the report speak for itself.The cost of it alone is enough to incite a riot with a GOP-Wingnut as one of our dear commardes would say. However, the report speaks in favor. Locally, a regular caller to our local station here did meantion medical marijuana. I was impressed. Medical marijuana has come of age. Why should the needless suffer. I still wonder what's behind the masquerade at 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue? I can only speak for myself in saying what I have said all along. The goverment has a hidden agenda when it comes to marijuana legalization in ANY form. It is up to a few of us to do what ever it takes to expose this issue, at what ever cost! I believe to many people have died. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: