August 28, 1999

From The Boston Globe
letter@globe.com
http://extranet1.globe.com/LettersEditor/
http://www.boston.com/globe/

By Associated Press

MEDICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE OPPOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA REFERENDUM

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The Maine Medical Association's public health committee is urging the organization's board to oppose an upcoming referendum to legalize marijuana for medical use in Maine.

Committee members said the list of diseases medical marijuana could be authorized to treat is too long and that doctors would be required to approve use of a substance without knowing how toxic or potent it is.
(Marijuananews note: This is a really absurd argument. The list of diseases for which aspirin is used includes fevers, headaches, joint inflammation, strokes, heart attacks, and sunburn, among others. Perhaps that is why it is available without a doctor’s prescription. The poor dears just could not handle having to think about all those things. As for not knowing "how toxic or potent it is" the safety margin is greater with marijuana than with almost any other drugs. Somehow it is not surprising that they don’t know that. Maybe they should just take a Prozac and lie down until after the referendum.)

See
A Medical Marijuana User Says That "Marinol Rescheduling Is Worthless" For Him.
He Simply Cannot Afford It. "My country is killing me."
and
The Wall Street Journal Responds To The IOM Report
By Having Califano Defend The "Gateway Theory"

Supporters of the measure believe the committee's recommendation will have little effect on voters.

The question going before voters in November asks whether Mainers should be allowed to possess ''a usable amount of marijuana for medical use'' if a doctor can document that a grower has any of several illnesses or if a doctor believes it would help a patient.

The proposed law defines a usable amount as 1.25 ounces of harvested marijuana and up to six marijuana plants, no more than three of which may be mature, flowering plants.

(Marijuananews note: Frankly, I think that this is too little, but AMR’s strategy is to get enough medical marijuana initiatives passed to force the federal government to get real on the issue. It remains to be seen if this will work.)

The list of qualifying ailments includes persistent nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite from AIDS or cancer treatments, glaucoma and seizures or muscle spasms from chronic diseases, such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis.

Craig Brown of Mainers for Medical Rights, the group pushing the referendum, argued that the list of affected diseases and conditions is narrow. He said government-approved synthetic substitutes for marijuana are expensive, less effective and sometimes more toxic. He rejected claims that marijuana use leads to use of other drugs and downplayed concerns about varying strength and purity of marijuana.

It is unclear what the Medical Association's governing body will decide when it meets in Bar Harbor on Sept. 16. Gordon Smith, the organization's executive vice president, said some doctors are concerned about the referendum's broad scope.

''Clearly there are pluses and minuses,'' Smith said.

One factor that likely will figure in the upcoming debate is a report released in March by the Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences.

(Marijuananews note: Which the members of the committee seem not to have read!)

The report concluded that marijuana may help treat pain, nausea and other medical problems. But it also recommended more research and advised that researchers should find a better way to deliver the drug, saying inhaling its smoke poses a risk of lung disease. The study said medical use should be confined to the terminally ill and those with debilitating symptoms who do not respond to traditional medication.
See
NORML Special Bulletin -- IOM Acknowledges:
"There is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions
that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."
But Still Opposes Smoked Marijuana --
and
Prohibitionism After the IOM Report; Analysis by Richard Cowan
Repeat After Me: No Medicine Is Smoked! No Medicine Is Smoked! No Medicine Is Smoked!
That’s It. You Are Now Qualified To Start Your Very Own Government Funded Anti-Drug Group!

Mainers for Medical Rights spent $390,167 by July to promote legalizing medical marijuana in Maine. Any use of the drug remains illegal under federal law.
See
Column By Authors of the IOM Report On Medical Marijuana
Shows Why The Public Does Not Trust The Medical Establishment –
And Why They Should Not! With Analysis by Richard Cowan