cannabisnews.com: Few Patients Use Marijuana as Medicine, U.S. Says





Few Patients Use Marijuana as Medicine, U.S. Says
Posted by CN Staff on November 29, 2002 at 15:08:57 PT
By John Lauerman
Source: Bloomberg.com 
Few patients took advantage of laws in four U.S. states that allow marijuana use for medical purposes, a congressional report said. About 2,450 people in Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii registered to use marijuana to treat pain, muscle spasms, nausea from chemotherapy and other ailments, according to a General Accounting Office report. In four California counties with registries, the rate was also less than 1 percent.
A number of states allow the medical use of marijuana to treat pain, a trend that irritates some law officers. More than half of law enforcement officials surveyed in 37 state and local agencies said the legality make it more difficult to enforce anti- drug measures. The state laws ``are routinely being abused to facilitate traditional illegal marijuana trafficking and use,'' Robert F. Diegelman, acting assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, wrote in a letter to the GAO, congress's investigative arm. Less than 1 percent of doctors in Hawaii and 3 percent of those in Oregon recommended the drug to their patients, the study said. More than two-thirds of patients who obtained marijuana prescriptions were age 40 or older. The most common reasons for using medical marijuana are to treat chronic pain and muscle spasms. The drug has also been used to treat glaucoma and nausea resulting from chemotherapy. Measuring the full impact legal marijuana has on law enforcement needs more research, the study said. Source: Bloomberg.comAuthor: John LauermanPublished: November 29, 2002Copyright: 2002 Bloomberg L.P. Website: http://www.bloomberg.com/Contact: http://quote.bloomberg.com/cgi-bin/feedback.cgiMedicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by John Tyler on November 30, 2002 at 10:39:30 PT
medical cannabis
I'm amazed that as many as 2,400 brave souls sougth out cannabis threapy, given all of the hoops they had to jump thorugh, finding a brave doctor, going through the registration process, exposing yourself to police harassement, etc, etc. when you don't feel very well anyway. Sure, you can get medical cannabis if you are "permitted", but getting permission is the hard part, and the gov. does its best to make it as difficult as possible. 
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 30, 2002 at 03:57:22 PT:
State Laws
The truth is that an estimated 30,000 people are using clinical cannabis in the legal states. This will be published in the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics 3(1) in January in an article by Dale Gieringer. The press release about the article was sent out in August and covered by NORML:http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5402The article above is the usual propaganda spin the government attempts on everything. It is truly difficult for most people to find a doctor who is educated about cannabis, and has a comfort level to permit any involvement in the process. Despite the 9th Circuit decision in Conant vs. Walters, the California State Medical Board has gone after at least 5 physicians who make cannabis recommendations.The only thing that will change this is massive public protest and political advances in Europe, Canada, and literally everywhere but here. 
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Comment #1 posted by BGreen on November 29, 2002 at 16:41:47 PT
Here's my name, now come and arrest me!
Yeah, right. As long as the Police States of Amerika is going after me, even if I'm obeying the laws of my state, there's no way in hell I'm registering. I'm safer in the black-market underworld than under the "protection" of big brother.To speculate that this means very few people are using cannabis for medicine is just plain idiotic.I'll let Dr. Russo address the problems patients go through trying to find a doctor to recommend medical cannabis. I find it amazing there's as many as 2,450 people in those four states who've managed to get the official 'okey dokey.'
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