cannabisnews.com: Medicine's Moral Micromanagers Medicine's Moral Micromanagers Posted by FoM on March 27, 2000 at 08:44:33 PT By Ethan Russo M.D. Source: Washington Post I was distressed by Joyce Nalepka's March 19 letter in which she asserted that some unspecified National Institutes of Health publication recommends avoidance of marijuana by people with HIV.That is perhaps true, but it is also the case that an extensive workshop on medical marijuana convened by NIH in 1997 presented a great deal of positive information on its benefits. The Institute of Medicine has recommended that cannabis be made available to people with HIV, cancer and other serious illnesses. Ms. Nalepka, who said that only the Food and Drug Administration should dictate approval of medicine, may be interested to know that FDA recently recognized medical indications for cannabis by virtue of its approval as an Orphan Drug for treatment of AIDS wasting syndrome. Also, FDA approved my Investigational New Drug application for cannabis in migraine treatment last year, only to have progress derailed by the refusal of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to provide the drug for the trial. It is false to assert that cannabis is ineffective in treatment of glaucoma. Many patients who have failed standard treatments have preserved their vision through such treatment. Cannabis may worsen balance in some, but not all, multiple sclerosis patients. In contrast, it has had demonstrable benefit on the disease's associated tremor and spasticity (muscle tightness). Recent studies also suggest that with cannabis, deteroriation may be slowed. The moral micromanagers should step aside and leave this debate where it belongs: with the FDA, patients and their doctors. Ethan Russo M.D.Missoula, Mont. Monday, March 27, 2000; Page A26 © Copyright 2000 The Washington Post CompanyRelated Article:Marijuana Isn't Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5122.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by Drew on May 07, 2000 at 21:14:14 PT: Nalepka's address America Cares (AMERICACARES2-DOM) (just barely outside the DC Beltway)Registered webmaster's address: 1805 Tilton Drive Silver Spring, MD 20902 USFROM ANYWHO May 7 2000 --------------Nalepka,Raymond J 1805 Tilton DriveSilver Spring, MD 20902-4009301 681 7861 Joyce, of course, signed her editorials Silver Spring My own take on DARE (correct address) [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Drew on May 07, 2000 at 21:12:44 PT: Nalepka's address America Cares (AMERICACARES2-DOM) (just barely outside the DC Beltway)Registered webmaster's address: 1805 Tilton Drive Silver Spring, MD 20902 USFROM ANYWHO May 7 2000 --------------Nalepka,Raymond J 1805 Tilton DriveSilver Spring, MD 20902-4009301 681 7861 Joyce, of course, signed her editorials Silver Spring My own take on DARE [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Doc-Hawk on March 28, 2000 at 16:33:12 PT: Forgot the email. Amercares aol.com gets to her as does nalepka aol.com .I registered her site with websmostclicked.com under the name of Frau Nalepka and by now she has gotten confirmation of indexing under that name. Thanks observer. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Doc-Hawk on March 28, 2000 at 16:30:41 PT: Ratings and America Cares I just went to www.websmostlinked.com and got the ratings for cannabisnews.com and americacares.org . The results:The domain: cannabisnews.com, is ranked #19829 out of 285703 domains in the WebsMostLinked.com database. The domain: americacares.org, is ranked #58104 out of 285703 domains in the WebsMostLinked.com database. Great job FoM...but we knew that. Get well soon. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by observer on March 27, 2000 at 14:00:11 PT correction! http://www.americacares.org is Joyce's *** CORRECTION ***http://www.americacares.org is Joyce Nalepka's site, not americacares.com !!!(Those are very different sites!) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on March 27, 2000 at 10:18:55 PT link Also, see correspondence between greenfox and Joyce Nalepka posted here:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5132.shtml(Joyce Nalepka's site here:http://www.americacares.com ) [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: