"The general’s
statement, issued on Tuesday, is so rife with inaccuracies,
including selective citations of the Institute of Medicine report his office commissioned,
that it is difficult to take it seriously." Orange County Register Editorial
July 23, 1999
From The Orange County Register
Lead Editorial
letters@link.freedom.com
http://www.ocregister.com/
DRUG CZAR DODGES MEDICAL-MARIJUANA FACTS
Federal "drug czar" Gen. Barry McCaffrey has seen fit to insert himself into the debate over SB 848, introduced by San Jose Democratic Sen. John Vasconcellos to implement Proposition 215, California’s medical marijuana initiative. But the general’s statement, issued on Tuesday, is so rife with inaccuracies, including selective citations of the Institute of Medicine report his office commissioned, that it is difficult to take it seriously.
Prop. 215 is now Section 11362.5 of California’s Health and Safety Code— and it hasn’t been challenged in court. That point is especially relevant in light of a comment by Gen. McCaffery in his statement that "Should S.B. 848 be approved by the California Legislature, marijuana would continue to be a Schedule I substance and would still be illegal under federal law to cultivate, possess or use."
California initiatives are routinely challenged in court within hours of being passed. Gen. McCaffrey’s office could have gone to court to invalidate Prop. 215. He did not. No one has.
In the only legal test of federal supremacy in this matter, Gen. McCaffrey’s office threatened to arrest California physicians who recommended marijuana. A federal court, responding to an action brought by the California Medical Association and others, issued an order forbidding federal agents from doing any such thing.
In his statement Tuesday, Gen. McCaffrey claimed: "SB 848 ignores the findings of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) report ‘Marijuana and Medicine.’ That report concluded that ‘although marijuana smoke delivers THC and other cannabinoids to the body, it also delivers harmful substances, including most of those in tobacco smoke. In addition, plants ... cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons, there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine."’
This selective citation is especially cynical.
As Sen. Vasconcellos noted in a press release responding to Gen. McCaffrey, in almost the next sentence the IOM report states: "Until a non-smoked, rapid-onset ... delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."
Gen. McCaffery also ignored another finding of the report. The Institute of Medicine says there’s no scientific basis for the "stepping stone" theory— that chemical properties of marijuana lead to use of other drugs. Instead, the IOM report talks about a "gateway theory," but characterizes this as "a social theory. The latter does not suggest that the pharmacological qualities of marijuana make it a risk factor for progression to other drug use. Instead it is the legal status of marijuana that makes it a gateway drug."
Thus, the Institute of Medicine suggests that what makes marijuana potentially dangerous in terms of leading to use of more dangerous drugs is the very fact that it is illegal.
Gen. McCaffrey also insisted that "Continued strict regulation of cannabis as a Schedule I drug is essential." Here again he is on shaky ground. The IOM report clearly shows that marijuana does not meet the criteria established by federal law for Schedule I—drugs uniquely subject to abuse with no known medical use.
See
How The IOM Report
Impacts The Move To Have Medical Marijuana Rescheduled
There’s another matter, as former gubernatorial candidate and medical marijuana patient (and defendant) Steve Kubby reminded us. Whatever Gen. McCaffrey says about the inflexibility of federal law, eight patients have been certified as having a medical need and are receiving seven pounds a year of marijuana, free, from the federal government. Gen. McCaffrey hasn’t tried to deprive these patients of their supply. If they can use marijuana legally under federal law, why can’t patients in California?
A statement from gubernatorial spokesman Mike Bustamante last week indicated that Gov. Gray Davis is inclined to veto SB 848 if it passes because it conflicts with federal law. Gov. Davis should be reminded that he wasn’t elected to enforce federal law but to enforce California law.
The voters of this and five other states have told the government that while they may not want to legalize marijuana for recreational use, they want it to be made available for medical use. When will the government get the message?
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register