Date: Thu, 30 Jan 1997 17:36:55 -0500 (EST)
From: David Borden <[b--rd--n] at [intr.net]>
To: [j--r--y] at [pwa.acusd.edu]
Subject: Medical Journal Endorses Medical Marijuana, Criticizes Feds
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Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
Rapid Response Team
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Please copy and distribute.
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Yesterday the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most
prestigious medical journals in the world, opined in favor of
medical marijuana. Dr. Jerome Kassirer, editor-in-chief of
NEJM, wrote an editorial in which he sharply criticized the
administration's stance. Attached is the press release from
Americans for Medical Rights.
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NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
BLASTS FEDERAL POLICY ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
SANTA MONICA, January 29 - While the Clinton administration
continues to fight medical marijuana in the wake of Proposition
215's passage, the medical community nationwide is waking up to
the controversy and siding against the government.
More evidence comes in a new column by the editor-in-chief of
the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer,
who notes that "thousands of patients ... have obtained
striking relief" from medical marijuana, and calls the federal
government's blocking of medical access to the drug "inhumane."
Kassirer's article in the January 30 edition, "Federal
Foolishness and Marijuana," argues that the federal government
should reclassify marijuana from the Schedule I to Schedule II,
a move that would permit its prescription and regulation for
use in medical treatment. Such a move, Kassirer says, would be
a more appropriate response to the recent passage of
Proposition 215 in California and of a similar measure in
Arizona.
Kassirer writes, "I believe that a federal policy that
prohibits physicians from alleviating suffering by prescribing
marijuana for seriously ill patients is misguided, heavy-handed
and inhumane."
Bill Zimmerman, director of Americans for Medical Rights, which
sponsored Prop. 215, said, "This article is a complete
repudiation of the federal government's response to Prop. 215."
Zimmerman continued, "Drug czar Barry McCaffrey is out of his
league when he attacks medical marijuana. He has ridiculed this
issue as a 'Cheech and Chong show.' In truth, it is a matter of
real concern to medical professionals. McCaffrey has made a bad
policy worse, and is now facing the consequences in the form of
a rebellion by the medical community."
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