cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana in the Mainstream? Medical Marijuana in the Mainstream? Posted by FoM on May 17, 1999 at 08:55:43 PT Source: Ask Dr. Weil Q. On television and elsewhere it seems that medical marijuana is entering the mainstream. What is your position on the status of medical marijuana research? A. Medical marijuana does seem to be gaining wider acceptance, at least on the medical front and in popular opinion. The latest advance comes from an advisory panel to the Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in the form of a report noting marijuana's therapeutic value for pain relief, nausea control and appetite stimulation . Significantly, the panel also found no conclusive evidence that marijuana use leads to harder drugs. However, it concluded that smoking is probably not the best way to get marijuana's therapeutic benefits and called for development of other means of administering its active components, perhaps via an inhaler. The report now goes to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for study. Thus the Institute of Medicine joins the AMA and the New England Journal of Medicine in calling for research into the medical uses of marijuana. On the legislative front Alaska this year joined five other states -- Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada -- in permitting patients with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain, seizures and muscle spasms to grow limited amounts of marijuana for personal use and protecting the doctors who recommend it. But unless Congress acts to bar federal enforcement of drug laws in those states, both physicians and patients could be in legal jeopardy. Federal legislation has been introduced to do just that, but that's been tried unsuccessfully before and chances are Congress won't go along this time either. Click the above link to read the complete answer by Dr. Andrew Weil!http://cgi.pathfinder.com/drweil/ Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by David Skeele on January 08, 2000 at 09:17:26 PT: pot and ulcers Just a quick question for y'all. I know that smoking cigarettes is about the worst thing one can do if one has an ulcer. What about pot? Does it have the same aggravating effect, or is it somehow different? Thanks! David [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 19, 1999 at 16:20:52 PT Medical Marijuana in the Mainstream? Hello Pat,This is the post that I was trying to respond to the other night but there was a script error and Ron fixed it but by then I forgot what I wanted to say! LOL!I believe if Dr. Weil was asked straight out if marijuana should be decriminalized he would say yes. Being a doctor he has to be on the conservative side or risk alienation from his peers and then he would lose his clout, so I see why he would follow the book on this one medically speaking.Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Pat on May 17, 1999 at 17:59:44 PT MAYO Clinic Stinks, I guess..&*LEGAL DRUG PUSHERS* Hi Rainbow and FoM,I never did like the Mayo Clinic, because, as I recall, (some of...) those folks are pretty backwards, in their thinking. ***Btw, I really find hard to believe that they [Mayo Clinic] say cannabis causes mens' breast to grow... especially when one (and probably many...) of the drugs "mainstream" docs push, to the tune of over a billion dollars in US sales per year --> the "ulcer drug" Tagamet ***It's also addictive, inasmuchas, if you stop taking it, your ulcer, very often, comes back (according to what I heard.) I also read, some years back, that it could cost you about 150 US dollars or more, per month, indefinitely....***Of course, there are much cheaper, safer alternatives, to Tagamet, etc., but, many "main stream" doctors either don't know about them, or sometimes, fail to tell their patients about them.Thanks, Rainbow and FoM.Pat.***Ps. Everyone can see just what a fine racket the legal drug companies and the legal docs have, when they look to see what happens to drugs like Tagamet, when their patent runs out. When the drug is still protected by patent, it is very expensive, and you can *only* get through the legal drug pushers, the docs and the company who makes it.***However, once the patent runs out, suddenly, somehow, "very mysteriously", the drug becomes ever-so-much safer, and you can buy it "over-the-counter," *without* a doctor's prescription. ***Btw, I read recently, that about 1/2 of all the money spent on the "War on Drugs" media ads, comes from the legal drug companies. I'm not sure this is true, but, if so, it would not surprise me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 17, 1999 at 15:17:17 PT Mayo Clinic Hello Rainbow,Yes I sure know all those stories. I remember my sister telling me when I was going to school not to take any cigarettes from a stranger because they could have laced it with that terrible narcotic marijuana! LOL! ( back when you could smoke cigarettes!) We had a smoking lounge in our school! Not anymore!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Rainbow on May 17, 1999 at 14:51:14 PT: Mayo Clinic I am concerned for those medical establishments who speak the prohibitionist line like the Mayo clinic. A recent search found that they say marijuana causes impotence (Ha Ha) and enlarged breasts in men (not women). This kind of poor reporting on the part of the Mayo clinic does no good for it or the cause.BTW I do not have big breasts but suggest that the Mayo Clinic do a survey of its doctors.They have not responded with my request for the citations supporting the above reports.Go to www.mayoclinic.edu and search on marijuana for a sad but true laugh IMHO.CheersRainbow [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: