cannabisnews.com: Proponents of Medical Marijuana Cheer New Report!





Proponents of Medical Marijuana Cheer New Report!
Posted by FoM on March 18, 1999 at 06:25:02 PT

LOS ANGELES "Vindication! We were right all the while," said Dennis Peron, a pro-legalization advocate in San Francisco. "The science is there. Is the political will there?" 
Supporters of using marijuana to ease patients' pain say they have been handed an important weapon in their battle with the federal government to legalize the drug: science. The Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences, said Wednesday that marijuana's active ingredients can ease the pain, nausea and vomiting caused by cancer and AIDS. The new analysis, which bolsters similar conclusions by the National Institutes of Health, urged scientific trials and the development of a standard way to safely use the drug, such as an inhaler. Ballot measures approving marijuana for medicinal use have passed in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Still, the drug remains banned by federal law and doctors are wary of prescribing it, even in those states. White House drug policy adviser Barry McCaffrey said federal law would be unaffected by the study, although he acknowledged that authorities still need to unravel conflicting state and federal laws. The report said that because the chemicals in marijuana ease anxiety, stimulate the appetite, ease pain and reduce nausea and vomiting, they can be helpful for people undergoing chemotherapy and people with AIDS. It also said there is no evidence that use of marijuana leads to other drug use. The panel did warn that smoking marijuana can cause respiratory disease. Proponents of medical marijuana cheered the study's results and said opponents will need to change. "If they continue to cling to their arguments, then they begin to lose their credibility," said Rand Martin, chief of staff for California state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara. Advocates say the Food and Drug Administration must reclassify marijuana from Schedule I -- illegal drugs -- to Schedule II, drugs that doctors can prescribe. "Let us waste no more time in providing this medication through legal, medical channels to all the patients whose lives may be saved," said Daniel Zingale of AIDS Action. Breaking ranks with the pro-medical marijuana groups was the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, which condemned the report as "tepid." At the White House, spokesman Joe Lockhart said: "What we found out is that there may be some chemical compounds in marijuana that are useful in pain relief or anti-nausea, but that smoking marijuana is a crude delivery system. So I think what this calls for ... is further research." Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., who led the fight to get the U.S. House of Representatives to condemn medical marijuana last fall, said he is "deeply concerned" the report might encourage people to smoke marijuana. Robert Maginnis, of the conservative Family Research Council, said doctors have other medicines to treat any ailment that marijuana can help. "Providing good medicine -- not marijuana -- is the compassionate response to patients' pain and illnesses," he said. Copyright 1999& The Associated Press. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 18, 1999 at 10:17:53 PT
Marijuana is effective medicine
What no one seems to think about when discussing a delivery system other then smoking it, is they don't understand that when a person has AIDS or Cancer the digestive system becomes affected and absorbing medicine into their bodies can become quite difficult. Smoking is immediate so even if the person is in a vomiting episode the smoke will do it's job because you can't throw up smoke! Thanks Again for your excellent comment! Peace, FoM!
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Comment #1 posted by Dr. Ganj on March 18, 1999 at 08:36:11 PT
Marijuana is effective medicine
What these opponents of medical marijuana fail to understand is this: If they were so thoroughly nauseated by all the pills associated with chemotherapy, and the doctors in charge said to them; "I'm sorry, since the dexamethasone doesn't work, there is nothing we can do" but, after hearing from others in the cancer ward that a few puffs of marijuana will stop the nausea, don't you think trying this medication, with its unique delivery system, is worth a try? I'll tell you this, it worked for my mom for her treatment of cancer, and I still have a mom. That's far more important than hearing from opponents of medical marijuana saying we need more research. How many people will it take to suffer through AIDS, cancer, chronic pain, etc., before the lawmakers understand this? What about you Orrin Hatch? Just wait 'til you have cancer, and you are crying out in such terrible pain you want to kill yourself. Only then will you know how others have suffered. Maybe some caring person will offer you a puff, as you wail in agony. Maybe then you'll know the truth.Dr. Ganj   
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