Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: [ebran d t] at [jarthur.claremont.edu] (Eli Brandt)
Subject: _Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine_
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1993 05:33:34 GMT

I don't know whether this book has already been touted, but I'll do it
anyway.  This is Grinspoon and Bakalar's (semi-)new book; I picked it
up at the textbook store for twenty bucks.  It's excellent.  I've seen
it called an update of _Marihuana Reconsidered_, but it isn't really,
being more focused.  The bulk of the book deals with, no surprise, the
use of marijuana as a medicine; there's also a historical intro, a
good consideration of the known hazards of marijuana use, and finally
an argument for its legalization.  The final section also has some
interesting anecdotes on non-medical use by a musician and two
scientists.

The "medical" section is the core of the book.  It consists largely
of anecdotes, but the authors have not failed to reference the
literature where it exists.  It impressed me -- for example, I had
been under the impression that the use of marijuana for glaucoma was
a fringy anecdotal sort of thing, but Grinspoon and Bakalar include,
in addition to the anecdotes, references to articles showing that
cannabis lowers IOP.  The entry from Stephen Jay Gould, in which he
gives marijuana a good deal of credit for his presently being alive,
is noteworthy just for the name recognition factor.  

The other sections are also well-referenced and up-to-date, and
should come in handy for debating Drug Warriors.  As to the book
itself: the $20 was for the hardcover, which has a muted cover, fine
paper and typography, and a binding that hasn't given out yet.  Buy
a copy, or ask your library to, or both.  This is a book to have,
IMHO.

	 PGP 2 key by finger or e-mail
   Eli   [ebran d t] at [jarthur.claremont.edu]