Oregon Medical Association Declines to Oppose Medical Marijuana; Believe It or Not, This Is A Victory
See "Can weeds and bark be better than drugs?" A Wonderfully Ironic
Column
and
The Portland
Oregonian Escalates Its Propaganda Campaign Against Medical Marijuana Initiative
and
Review of All The
Proposed Oregon Marijuana Initiatives – Which Do Police Fear Most?
April 27, 1998
Author: Patrick O’Neill of The Oregonian staff
DOCTORS KEEP MUM ON MARIJUANA
The OMA hands pot initiative backers a victory by staying neutral but opposes a measure that bans abortions after the 12th week
(Ed. note: This means that a woman can decide to have an abortion, but cannot decide to use cannabis. However a person might feel about these two issues, this strikes me as bizarre.)
GLENEDEN BEACH—
Oregon’s largest organization of physicians handed
proponents of medical marijuana a victory on Sunday, voting to remain neutral in an
impending ballot measure campaign to legalize marijuana for therapeutic purposes.
The group also decided to oppose a proposed ballot measure that would ban abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The governing body of the Oregon Medical Association, which represents 5,800 of the state’s 8,300 physicians, changed crucial wording in a proposed resolution under which the association would have opposed legalizing smoked, medical marijuana.
Under the original resolution, the association would "oppose any measure that would decriminalize marijuana, including the initiative petition currently being advanced for the medical use of this substance ... ." But members voted to change the wording. Now, instead of opposing the medical marijuana initiative, the association will "not support" the measure.
On Saturday, Dr. Charles E. Hofmann of Baker City, the state association’s past president, urged it to adopt an American Medical Association report recommending a ban on medical use of smoked marijuana until experiments have proven its usefulness. And on Sunday, Hofmann warned the group that the new wording would substantially weaken the original intent of the resolution.
"When we’re asked what the OMA’s position is on medical marijuana, we’ll have to say we’re neutral," he said. " ‘Not support’ means ‘neutral.’ Be clear on that."
Dr. Richard Bayer, a Portland internist and a chief petitioner for the marijuana initiative, said the association’s action was a "win for the citizens of Oregon ... and for the OMA, because the OMA made a wise and compassionate decision."
Bayer said that members of the association’s House of Delegates, its governing body, "became educated on the specific issues (of medical marijuana) and chose compassion."
"People realize that if they had a dying and suffering patient in the exam room that that patient should not be subject to criminal sanctions for trying to improve his life," he said.
Bayer said he has seen plenty of evidence that smoking marijuana relieves nausea caused by chemotherapy and some symptoms of pain, and it is effective in fighting weight loss in AIDS patients. Although a prescription drug containing an active ingredient of marijuana is available, Bayer said it sometimes isn’t as effective as smoked marijuana.
The marijuana resolution also endorses recommendations in an American Medical Association report on medical marijuana. That 29-page report largely calls into question the medical value of smoked marijuana. It urges that the National Institutes of Health sponsor clinical research into uses for the drug.
James Kronenberg, associate executive director of the state association, said after the vote that its neutrality could affect the outcome of the election.
Kronenberg said the vote of neutrality is reminiscent of the ballot measure campaign about physician-assisted suicide in 1994. The association had taken a similarly neutral stance on that issue.
"Both proponents and opponents say the OMA’s neutrality was a large part of the measure’s passage," he said.
The American Medical Association, of which the state association is an affiliate, opposed physician-assisted suicide and legalization of medical marijuana.
The House of Delegates also approved a resolution opposing a proposed ballot measure that would ban abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Physicians regarded the measure as an intrusion into the relationship between them and their patients. They also worried about sections of the proposed measure that they think would make it possible for organizations and individuals to sue doctors for performing abortions.
Dr. Zena I.P. Monji, a Eugene obstetrician-gynecologist, testified on Saturday that the proposed abortion ban would make it virtually impossible to terminate pregnancies in cases where tests indicated birth defects such as Down syndrome. Such tests cannot be performed until after 12 weeks of pregnancy, she said.
The resolution is in keeping with the association’s established policy, which is to protect access to abortion.
(Ed. note: This story has some material not in the later report.)
STATE’S PHYSICIANS DEBATE MEDICAL VALUE OF MARIJUANA
April 26, 1998
The Oregonian
letters@news.oregonian.com http://www.oregonlive.com/by Patrick O’Neill of The Oregonian staff
The Oregon Medical Association considers whether to take sides on proposed ballot measures allowing medical use of the drug and restricting abortion
GLENEDEN BEACH—Oregon physicians are deciding whether to weigh in on two controversial issues headed for voters this fall.
One proposed ballot measure would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes; the other would ban abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. On Saturday, the governing body of the Oregon Medical Association, which represents 5,800 of the state’s 8,300 physicians, wrestled with whether to lend the association’s weight in political battles on the two issues.
The association’s governing body, the house of delegates, will vote on those and other issues this morning.
On Saturday, in sometimes-heated debate, doctors offered widely differing opinions on the wisdom of legalizing the smoking of marijuana in medical therapies.
Dr. Charles E. Hofmann of Baker, past president of the OMA, urged the group to adopt an American Medical Association report recommending a ban on medical use of smoked marijuana until experiments have proved its usefulness.
But Dr. Richard Bayer, a Portland internist and a chief petitioner for the marijuana initiative, told the group that plenty of evidence shows that smoking marijuana relieves nausea caused by chemotherapy and some symptoms of pain. He also said it is effective in fighting weight loss in AIDS patients.
Bayer said he and other physicians have seen enough patients who have benefited from marijuana that he is convinced of its effectiveness. Bayer agreed that more study should be done. But the measure would "broker a peace of sorts while science continues its investigations," he said.
Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, a Portland oncologist and Bayer’s wife, echoed his sentiments.
"I’ve seen medical marijuana work many times," she said.
Some physicians oppose legalization of medical marijuana because they say it could open the door to unscientific practices in medicine.
Dr. Kathleen Weaver, medical director for the Oregon Health Plan, said patients’ desire for marijuana shouldn’t be a factor in using it for medical purposes.
"If demand dictates what we use, it will expand into other areas including alternative medicines," she said. She urged the members to wait until studies prove that marijuana is safe and effective.
Dr. Esther M. Gwinnell, a Portland psychiatrist, chided opponents of medical marijuana for maintaining a "superstitious fear" of the drug. She said fears that using marijuana for medical treatments will foster abuse of the drug are wildly exaggerated. The most heavily abused drugs are prescription medications, she said.
"Most of my patients will jump over 75 pounds of marijuana to get to four Dilaudid pills," she said. Dilaudid is a prescription pain medication. She reminded the group that the potential for abuse doesn’t automatically mean there are no beneficial uses for a drug.
Some doctors oppose using marijuana because a synthetic drug, Marinol, which contains one of marijuana’s active ingredients, is effective for reducing nausea in cancer patients.
Dr. Lonnie Bristow, past president of the American Medical Association and now a consultant for the manufacturer of Marinol, told the group that Marinol does work for "a substantial number of cases." He said smoking marijuana has too many unknowns for it to be considered safe. Bristow said he is donating his consulting fees from Roxane Laboratories, the maker of Marinol, to medical and nursing schools.
Doctors also spent time discussing the battle about abortion in the general election.
Dr. Leigh Dolin, a Portland internist and a member of the steering committee of Pro-Choice Oregon, asked the group to support a resolution to oppose efforts by Lon Mabon and the Oregon Cititens Alliance to ban abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Dolin called the proposed measure "an unprecedented attack on the physician-patient relationship." The choice to terminate a pregnancy should be made by "the woman herself, possibly in consultation with her physician -- not by Lon Mabon and the OCA."
Dr. Zena I.P. Monji, a Eugene obstetrician-gynecologist, warned that the proposed abortion ban would make it virtually impossible to terminate pregnancies in cases where tests indicated birth defects, such as Down syndrome.
As older women choose to have children, she said, tests such as amniocentesis become increasingly important. Amniocentesis cannot be performed until after the 12-week cutoff. The risk of having a child with Down syndrome is one in 350 after age 35, she said.