cannabisnews.com: Tod Mikuriya -- Psychiatrist, Marijuana Advocate





Tod Mikuriya -- Psychiatrist, Marijuana Advocate
Posted by CN Staff on May 22, 2007 at 05:02:46 PT
By Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco, CA -- Tod H. Mikuriya, a Berkeley psychiatrist who helped draft California's medical marijuana law, died at his home Sunday of complications of cancer. He was 73. Dr. Mikuriya was a well-known medical marijuana advocate whose practice made him the physician of last resort for patients throughout California who said marijuana eases their suffering.
He was the founder of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and an architect of Proposition 215, the initiative approved in 1996 by state voters that legalized growing and using marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. In 2003, Dr. Mikuriya was investigated by the Medical Board of California on allegations of unprofessional conduct and negligence in his handling of 16 cases since 1998. Supporters said the case was politically motivated and payback for his vocal support of medical marijuana. The state placed him on probation, but Dr. Mikuriya appealed and continued to practice. "If his health hadn't failed, he would have appealed (to a state appeals court)," friend Fred Gardner said Monday. "It didn't affect his practice, it just affected his pride," Gardner said of the Medical Board's ruling. "It hurt him that he was considered anything but a great doctor going by the book." Dr. Mikuriya was born in Pennsylvania in 1933 to Anna Schwenk, a German immigrant and practicing Baha'i, and Tadafumi Mikuriya, a Japanese samurai who converted to Christianity. He received a Quaker education at George School and Haverford College before graduating from Reed College and serving as a medic in the Army. He attended Temple University School of Medicine, where he saw a reference in a pharmacology text to the medical uses of marijuana.  Snipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/2ugax8Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Sunday, Tuesday, May 22, 2007Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Article & Web Site:Tod Mikuriya M.D.http://www.mikuriya.com/In Memoriam: Tod Mikuriyahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22991.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by john wayne on May 25, 2007 at 02:40:12 PT
Tod was a rare sane doc
RIP Tod. And as for you gummy-asshole fuckers who tormented him in his last years, I hope I get my hands around your scrawny neck someday.
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