From: [e--md--p] at [aol.com] (EAVMD TOP)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: ALERT! HELP STOP NAHAS FRAUD!
Date: 12 Jun 1994 12:37:01 -0400

In article <2ncmr8$[l p p] at [news.u.washington.edu]>,
[lamon t g] at [u.washington.edu] (Lamont Granquist) writes:

thought you might be interested in this
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
DECISION ON THE RESCHEDULING
OF MARIJUANA

 After over twenty years of review, conflict, arguments, and appeals,
the issue of whether to allow smoked marijuana to be prescribed as
medicine has been clarified by the United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia. 
 This important decision sets forth the new guidelines that only
rigorous scientific proof can satisfy the requirement of "currently
accepted medical use." These criteria are:
 1) The drug's chemistry must be known and reproducible.
 2) There must be adequate safety studies. 
 3) There must be adequate and well-controlled studies proving
efficacy.
 4) The drug must be accepted by qualified experts.
 5) The scientific evidence must be widely available. 

 The decision further dispelled the allegation that the administrator
of the Drug Enforcement Administration violated statute or was biased
in his decision. In addition to a thorough discussion of the
evidence, the judges stated,"we are not impressed," regarding these
complaints. The decision further  stated,"The administrator
reasonably accorded more weight to the opinions of the experts than
to the laymen and doctors on which the petitioners relied."   Those
testifying for medicinal smoked marijuana were laymen or doctors who
presented anecdotal information and were unable to identify the
scientific studies that they supposedly relied on under oath. Only
one even had enough knowledge to discuss the scientific
technicalities involved.  
 The denial of the motion set forth by NORML, the Drug Policy
Foundation, and the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics sets an
important precedent and sends a clear message that smoked marijuana
is not medicine.
 The International Drug Strategy Institute is a subsidiary of Drug
Watch International, and is a Chicago-based non-profit organization
concerned with effective global policies and strategies which
discourage drug use, oppose legalization of illicit drugs, and
provide accurate information on drug use.  
Eric A. Voth, M.D., FACP
Chairman,
The International Drug Strategy Institute