Marijuana: The Good Part

Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. No one has ever died from an overdose, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications:

Relief from nausea and increase of appetite;

Reduction of eye pressure;

Reduction of muscle spasms;

Relief from mild to moderate chronic pain.

Marijuana is frequently beneficial in the treatment of the following conditions:

AIDS. Marijuana can reduce the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the ailment itself and by treatment with AZT and other drugs.

Glaucoma. Marijuana can reduce eye pressure, thereby alleviating the pain and slowing -- and sometimes stopping -- the progress of the condition. (Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. It damages vision by increasing eye pressure over time.)

Cancer. Marijuana can stimulate the appetite and alleviate nausea and vomiting, which are common side effects of chemotherapy treatment.

Multiple Sclerosis. Marijuana can limit the muscle pain and spasticity caused by the disease, as well as relieving tremor and unsteadiness of gait. (Multiple sclerosis is the leading cause of neurological disability among young and middle-aged adults in the United States.)

Epilepsy. Marijuana can prevent epileptic seizures in some patients.

Chronic Pain. Marijuana can alleviate the chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries.

Each of these applications has been deemed legitimate by at least one court, legislature, and/or government agency in the United States.

Many patients also report that marijuana is useful for treating arthritis, migraine, menstrual cramps, alcohol and opiate addiction, and depression and other debilitating mood disorders. Marijuana could be helpful for millions of patients in the United States. Nevertheless, other than for the eight people with special permission from the federal government, medical marijuana remains illegal!

People currently suffering from any of the conditions mentioned above, for whom the legal medical options have proven unsafe or ineffective, have two options:

1.Continue to suffer from the ailment itself; or

2.Illegally obtain marijuana -- and risk suffering consequences such as:

an insufficient supply due to the prohibition-inflated price or scarcity;

impure, contaminated, or chemically adulterated marijuana;

arrests, fines, court costs, property forfeiture, incarceration, probation, and criminal

records.

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 federally prohibited marijuana. Dr. William C. Woodward of the American Medical Association opposed the Act, testifying that prohibition would ultimately prevent the medicinal uses of marijuana. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed all illicit and prescription drugs into five "schedules" (categories). Marijuana was placed in Schedule I, defining the substance as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medicinal use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

This definition simply does not apply to marijuana. Of course, at the time of the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana had been prohibited for more than three decades. Its medicinal uses forgotten, marijuana was considered a dangerous and addictive narcotic. A substantial increase in the number of recreational users in the 1970s contributed to the rediscovery of marijuana's medicinal uses:

1.Many scientists felt the obligation to study the health effects of marijuana. They inadvertently discovered marijuana's astonishing medicinal history in the process.

2.Many people who used marijuana recreationally were also suffering from diseases for which marijuana is beneficial. By fluke, they discovered its therapeutic usefulness.

As the word spread, more and more patients started self-medicating with marijuana. However, because of marijuana's Schedule I status, doctors cannot prescribe it, and research approval and funding are severely curtailed.

In 1972, a petition was submitted to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs -- now the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) -- to reschedule marijuana to make it available by prescription. After 16 years of court battles, the DEA's chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, ruled:

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active

substances known. The provisions of the [Controlled Substances] Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand

between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance(32)."

Marijuana's placement in Schedule II would enable doctors to prescribe it to their patients. But top DEA bureaucrats rejected Judge Young's ruling and refused to reschedule marijuana. Two appeals later, petitioners experienced their first defeat in the 22-year-old lawsuit. On February 18, 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C. Circuit) ruled that the DEA is allowed to reject its judge's ruling and set its own criteria--enabling the DEA to keep marijuana in Schedule I. However, Congress still has the power to reschedule marijuana via legislation, regardless of the DEA's wishes.

In 1975, Robert Randall, who suffers from glaucoma, was arrested for cultivating his own marijuana. He won his case by using the "medical necessity defense," forcing the government to find a way to provide him with his medicine. As a result, the

Investigational New Drug (IND) compassionate access program was established, enabling