cannabisnews.com: Medicinal Marijuana Battle to Heat Up! 





Medicinal Marijuana Battle to Heat Up! 
Posted by FoM on March 08, 1999 at 18:35:25 PT

Medicinal Marijuana Battle to Heat Up with Release of Long-Awaited Institute of Medicine Report Next Month!WASHINGTON, D.C. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is preparing to challenge the likely interpretation of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) long-awaited medicinal marijuana report, to be released in mid-March.
 Government officials are sure to misrepresent the report's findings in order to justify the existing laws prohibiting the use of medicinal marijuana. MPP plans to make it clear that the report's findings will not contradict MPP's position that the laws should be changed so that patients will no longer be arrested for using medicinal marijuana.   The report was commissioned by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in January 1997. IOM -- part of the non-profit National Academy of Sciences -- accepted $1 million to conduct a "comprehensive review" of "the health effects and potential medical use of marijuana." Three public hearings were held during the winter of 1997-98.   MPP made sure that dozens of patients attended the hearings to testify about their fear of being arrested. Indeed, many of them had been arrested and incarcerated for using medicinal marijuana. Unfortunately, ONDCP explicitly forbade IOM from addressing policy and legal issues in the report. IOM must focus exclusively on scientific and clinical issues, even though the biggest concern to the thousands of patients nationwide who already use medicinal marijuana is the threat of being arrested and sent to prison.   Based on MPP's experience at the IOM hearings, MPP predicts the following:The report will note that there are existing scientific and clinical data, as well as numerous case histories, indicating that marijuana does work as a therapeutic agent for some patients with certain ailments. The report will note that more research is needed before the FDA can approve marijuana as a prescription medicine. The report will not discuss the appropriateness of the existing federal and state laws which establish harsh criminal penalties for the thousands of patients who are already growing and using their own medicinal marijuana.   "ONDCP director Barry McCaffrey is very clever," said Chuck Thomas, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. "He forbade IOM from discussing the existing criminal laws against medicinal marijuana users, knowing that anyone with any compassion would surely conclude that patients should not be arrested. McCaffrey will misrepresent the report's finding that `more research is needed' in his arguments against ballot initiatives and legislation -- which are merely efforts to remove criminal penalties for patients."   "Because IOM was not allowed to discuss criminal penalties, nothing in the report should be construed as opposing MPP's efforts to change the laws," said Thomas. "To the contrary, the report will clearly show that marijuana works as a relatively safe and effective medicine for many patients. MPP asserts that these patients are not stupid or crazy, and they should not be arrested."   MPP will be available for comment and hold a news conference on the day the report is released.http://www.mpp.org/releases.html
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