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Some Really Smart People Say:
Joycelyn Elders, MD, former "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day." Ralph Nader, LLB, attorney, author, and consumer advocate, stated the following in an "The criminal prosecution of patients for medical marijuana must end immediately, and marijuana must be treated as a medicine for the seriously ill... Research has shown marijuana to be a safe and effective medicine for controlling nausea associated with cancer therapy, reducing the eye pressure for patients with glaucoma, and reducing muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, para- and quadriplegia... Physicians must have the right to prescribe this drug to their patients without the fear of the federal government revoking their licenses, and doctor-patient privacy must be protected. The Drug Enforcement Administration should not be practicing medicine." Ron Paul, MD, Member of the US House of Representatives (R-TX), wrote the following in an "After deferring to the DEA, your release reads that, 'FDA is the sole federal agency that approves drug products as safe and effective for intended indications.' Why then has the FDA failed to respond to the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report which concluded that marijuana's active components are potentially effective in treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting, and other symptoms, and should be tested rigorously in clinical trials? It perplexes us that even though the FDA is responsible for protecting public health, the agency has failed to respond adequately to the IOM's findings seven years after the study's publication date. Additionally, this release failed to make note of the FDA's Investigational New Drug (IND) Compassionate Access Program, which allowed patients with certain medical conditions to apply with the FDA to receive federal marijuana. Currently, seven people still enlisted in this program continue to receive marijuana through the federal government. The existence of this program is an example of how the FDA could allow for the legal use of a drug, such as medical marijuana, without going through the 'well-controlled' series of steps that other drugs have to go through if there is a compassionate need." Dennis Kucinich, US Representative (D-OH) and 2008 Democratic Candidate for US President, stated the following in an "It's a matter between doctors and patients, and if doctors want to prescribe medical marijuana to relieve pain, compassion requires that the government support that. And so as president of the Lyn Nofziger, former Press Secretary to Ronald Reagan, wrote the following in the foreword to the 1999 book Marijuana RX: The Patients' Fight for Medicinal Pot, by Robert C. Randall and Alice M. O'Leary: "Marijuana clearly has medicinal value. Thousands of seriously ill Americans have been able to determine that for themselves, albeit illegally. Like my own family, these individuals did not wish to break the law but they had no other choice. The numerous attempts to legitimately resolve the issue-via state legislation and federal administrative hearings-have too often been ignored or thwarted by misguided federal agencies. Several states conducted extensive, and expensive, research programs which demonstrated marijuana's medical utility-particularly in the treatment of chemotherapy side-effects. Francis L. Young, the chief administrative law judge of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, ruled marijuana has legitimate medical applications and should be available to doctors."
Philip Denney, MD, co-founder of a medical cannabis evaluation practice, stated the following in his "I have found in my study of these patients that cannabis is really a safe, effective and non-toxic alternative to many standard medications. There is no such thing as an overdose. We have seen very minimal problems with abuse or dependence, which at worst are equivalent to dependence on caffeine. While a substance may have some potential for misuse, in my opinion, that's a poor excuse to deny its use and benefit to everyone else." Jay Cavanaugh, PhD, National Director of the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis (AAMC), wrote the following in a 2002 article titled "The Plight of the Chronically Ill," posted on the AAMC website: "Many of the chronically ill have successfully sought relief with the use of medical cannabis, an age-old remedy that now shows real scientific efficacy. Hundreds of thousands of the sick have replaced disabling narcotics and other psychotropic medications with nontoxic and benign cannabis. The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Folks with spinal injuries able to give up their walkers, AIDS patients able to gain weight and keep their medications down, cancer patients finding relief from the terrible nausea of chemotherapy, chronic pain patients once again functional with their consciousness restored from narcotic lethargy, and folks once disabled from crippling psychiatric disorders and addictions, returned to sanity and society with the assistance of a nontoxic herb with remarkable healing powers."
Jerry S. Mandel, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and Harvey W. Feldman, PhD, former Fellow of the Drug Abuse Council, wrote the following in their Apr.-June 1998 article titled ""Providing Medical Marijuana: The Importance of Cannabis," published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs: "The issue of whether marijuana has medicinal benefits no longer seems to be in question. Hundreds of scientific studies and thousands of testimonials from patients have established marijuana's effectiveness in controlling the nausea of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation; in enhancing appetites for AIDS patients who suffer a wasting syndrome or who have adverse reactions to their HAART (highly active antiretroviral treatment) medications; in reducing intraocular pressure for persons with glaucoma; in giving relief from spasms of muscular dystrophy; and for relieving pain from dozens of other serious diseases."
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) stated the following in the FAQ's section of its website, last updated on "For many patients, traditional medications do work and they do not require or desire medical marijuana. However, for a significant number of serious ill patients, including patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain among others, traditional medications do not provide symptomatic relief as effectively as medicinal cannabis. These patients must not be branded as criminals or forced to suffer needlessly in pain." David L. Bearman, MD, physician and medical marijuana expert, stated the following in a "I grew up knowing that cannabis could be a medicine... I'm not aware of any proven long-term [harmful] effects from cannabis. People have been trying to find major risks [from marijuana], but I've never seen any documented. We know if you smoke cannabis your chances of getting lung cancer are less than if you don't smoke anything at all." Gregory T. Carter, MD, Clinical Professor at the "There are really no other medications that have the same mechanisms of action as marijuana. Dronabinol (Marinol) is available by prescription in capsules, but has the distinct disadvantage of containing only synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is only one of many therapeutically beneficial cannabinoids in the natural plant. Interestingly, it is the most psychoactive of the cannabinoids and is the one that the Federal government allows to be prescribed!
The American Nurses Association (ANA) wrote the following in its "The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes that patients should have safe access to therapeutic marijuana/cannabis. Cannabis or marijuana has been used medicinally for centuries. It has been shown to be effective in treating a wide range of symptoms and conditions." David Hadorn, MD, PhD, Medical Consultant for GW Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., wrote in his July 17, 2003 document titled "Use of Cannabis Medicines in Clinical Practice," published on his personal website www.davidhadorn.com (website no longer available; Feb. 17, 2009): "I have seen many patients with chronic pain, muscle spasms, nausea, anorexia, and other unpleasant symptoms obtain significant -- often remarkable -- relief from cannabis medicines, well beyond what had been provided by traditional (usually opiate-based) pain relievers." Mark A.R. Kleiman, PhD, Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, wrote the following in a "Cannabis is almost certainly a useful treatment for at least some patients with several different diagnoses, and ought to be so recognized by the FDA and therefore sold lawfully at pharmacies under physicians' prescription. I keep hoping that the National Institute on Drug Abuse will relax the policy which has effectively prevented researchers from acquiring cannabis to use in clinical research, and that the medical marijuana advocates will devote some tiny fraction of their lititigation-and-petitioning budget to the medical research that could take this issue off the table politically." Lester Grinspoon, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at "Cannabis is remarkably safe. Although not harmless, it is surely less toxic than most of the conventional medicines it could replace if it were legally available. Despite its use by millions of people over thousands of years, cannabis has never cause an overdose death." Robert Kampia, Founder and Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project, stated the following the following in his Apr. 1, 2004 testimony to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources: "The medical benefits of marijuana are widely recognized...there is almost no way that a science-based approach can lead to the conclusion that marijuana--even smoked marijuana--is not medicine. The opposition to medical marijuana isn't based on science, but rather lies and myths that are refutable by indisputable facts... Regarding the claim that marijuana is too dangerous to be a medicine, it is interesting to note that there has never been a death attributed to an overdose of marijuana. Clearly, most prescription drugs are far more dangerous than marijuana." Jerome P. Kassirer, MD, former Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote the following in a Jan. 30, 1997 editorial titled "Federal Foolishness and Marijuana," published in the New England Journal of Medicine: "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... Federal authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medicinal use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should change marijuana's status from that of a Schedule 1 drug (considered to be potentially addictive and with no current medical use) to that of a Schedule 2 drug (potentially addictive but with some accepted medical use) and regulate it accordingly." Francis L. Young, former Chief Administrative Law Judge at the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), stated the following in his "The evidence in this record [9-6-88 ruling] clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record." Montel Williams, television host, wrote the following in his 2004 book Climbing Higher: "How dare someone tell me they can prescribe morphine, vicodin, percocet. Make the drugs most addictive, name the most addictive drug, they can give me and I can be a walking member of the society by taking that garbage, but my doctor, who has prescribed it for me, can’t prescribe medicinal marijuana? Why? Because we have an idea everybody who does it sits around smoking. There are 50 different ways to utilize it. You can eat it; you can process it into a liquid; or you can turn it into a pill form. The willow tree was taken apart about 200 years ago and turned into aspirin. And we all take it."
Bill O'Reilly, MA, Host of The O'Reilly Factor, stated the following on a "I believe Montel Williams when he says, 'Look, medical marijuana helps me, helps me cope with this disease, cope with my suffering. There's no reason why I should be denied it.' And I agree with Montel Williams that if this is the case, if a doctor -- a doctor -- says that he needs it for his MS, he should have it... Montel Williams believes, because he actively smokes marijuana, that it helps his MS. See, and I'm saying to myself, if we're going to err here -- and he believes it and it helps him -- let him have it. It's not hurting society." Karen O'Keefe, JD, attorney and Legislative Analyst for Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), wrote the following in a "It is fundamentally wrong to make preserving one's health -- or life -- a crime. Yet the federal law on marijuana and many state laws do just that. There is overwhelming evidence that marijuana is one of the safest available treatment options, when used at the direction of a physician. Even the DEA's Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, came to that conclusion. Research has shown that marijuana alleviates pain, nausea, AIDS and cancer wasting, and glaucoma. In trials where patients have been allowed to present evidence of their medical need for marijuana, courts have frequently found that marijuana it is medically necessary to their health. With roughly 20% of all cancer deaths caused by wasting, it is cruel and senseless to criminalize the doctor-advised use of a safe, effective, and widely available treatment." Jack Herer, author and pro-marijuana activist, wrote the following in the Nov. 2000 edition of his 1985 book The Emperor Wears No Clothes: "There are more than 60 therapeutic compounds in cannabis that are healing agents in medical and herbal treatments. The primary one is THC, and the effectiveness of therapy is directly proportionate to the herb's potency or concentration of THC."
Frank Lucido, MD, physician in private medical practice in "Cannabis has a long, impressive history as a safe and effective medicine... I am widely known to be a thorough, caring, and trusted physician, who takes the time and effort to establish that the patient is appropriate in their use of medical cannabis." Jacob Sullum, Senior Editor of Reason magazine, wrote the following in his 2003 book Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use: "It's beyond serious dispute that marijuana, which has been used therapeutically for thousands of years, helps relieve nausea and restore appetite. Marinol, a capsule containing THC, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for AIDS wasting syndrome and the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. But smoked marijuana has several advantages over Marinol..."
Laurence O. McKinney, Managing Partner of McKinney & Company, wrote the following in a "Yes, it should be an option. Cannabis has been used for millenia to potentiate other drugs, relax spasms, assist in meditative practices, and amplify sensation. A modern Ayurvedic text devotes fourteen pages to cannabis as a major medical plant with directions for use. Sri Lankans use cannabis based churnas every day. Marijuana should be available to adults for medical purposes if for no other reason than it is harmless, often helpful, and this would initiate control, rather than eradication, of a useful medical plant. That being said, incinerating or heating a vegetable to obtain THC along with whatever comes along and inhaling all sorts of junk to get it is hardly scientific. But still, what's the beef? Nobody's being harmed and many are helped." Americans for Safe Access (ASA) wrote the following in a Feb. 2008 email to ProCon.org "According to the growing tide of research, the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and potentially curative effects of cannabis continues to support that marijuana is a safe, effective part of therapeutic treatment. Twelve states legally recognize the medicinal use of marijuana, and eighty percent of Americans support medical cannabis, according to a 2002 CNN/Time poll."
Tod Mikuriya, MD, psychiatrist and medical coordinator, stated the following in 2001, as quoted on his website mikuriya.com in the "Cannabis" section: "Cannabis is leading the way for a more holistic type of medical care, a general revolt against corporate rationed care and traditional pharmaceutical company approaches to medicine. Patients use marijuana to get off toxic drugs. They find fellowship in compassion clubs. They find empowerment in fighting against prohibition, standing up to police and demagogues. Our opponents can threaten our freedom, but they can't kill our spirit."
Elvy Musikka, a medical marijuana patient in the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) Program, wrote the following in a "I am patient no. 3 of 8 who today currently receives medical marijuana through the federal government of the By 1991, I am aware of at least 50 patients who through extensive medical records, reputable doctors, and sometimes through courts -- such as in my case -- were able to convince all three drug-related agencies, FDA, DEA, and NIDA, that for us, marijuana isn't just medicine, it is the most efficient, reliable and safest part of our treatment and sometimes it is our only treatment." "Position 1: ACP supports programs and funding for rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana and the publication of such findings... Position 2: ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of THC that have proven therapeutic value... Position 4: ACP urges review of marijuana's status as a schedule I controlled substance and its reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana's safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions. Position 5: ACP strongly supports exemption from federal criminal prosecution; civil liability; or professional sanctioning, such as loss of licensure or credentialing, for physicians who prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law. Similarly, ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws." Consumer Reports Magazine wrote in a May 1997 article titled "Marijuana as Medicine - How Strong Is the Science?": "Consumer Reports believes that, for patients with advanced AIDS and terminal cancer, the apparent benefits some derive from smoking marijuana outweigh any substantiated or even suspected risks. In the same spirit the FDA uses to hasten the approval of cancer drugs, federal laws should be relaxed in favor of states' rights to allow physicians to administer marijuana to their patients on a caring and compassionate basis."
Christopher Largen, author, and George McMahon, author and medical marijuana patient of the US Federal Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug (IND) Program, wrote the following in their 2003 book Prescription Pot: A Leading Advocate's Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana: "Ultimately, the issue is not about laws, science or politics, but sick patients. Making no distinction between individuals circumstances of use, the war on drugs has also become a war on suffering people. Legislators are not health care professionals and patients are not criminals, yet health and law become entwined in a needlessly cruel and sometimes deadly dance... I sincerely hope our work will illuminate the irrational injustice of medical marijuana prohibition...."
Bob Barr, JD, former "Medical marijuana has a lot of efficacy, it should be supportive [sic], and it should be up to the states to vote and decide on those issues, not the federal government." [Editor's Note: Prior to The Federation of American Scientists wrote the following in a "Based on much evidence, from patients and doctors alike, on the superior effectiveness and safety of whole cannabis compared to other medications, the President should instruct the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration to make efforts to enroll seriously ill patients whose physicians believe that whole cannabis would be helpful to their conditions in clinical trials, both to allow data-gathering and to provide an alternative to the black market while the scientific questions about the possible utility of cannabis are resolved." The Lymphoma Foundation of America stated the following in its "Be it resolved that this organization urges Congress and the President to enact legislation to reschedule marijuana to allow doctors to prescribe smokable marijuana to patients in need; and, Be it further resolved that this organization urges the US Public Health Service to allow limited access to medicinal marijuana by promptly reopening the Investigational New Drug compassionate access program to new applicants." Bill Richardson, MA, Governor of New Mexico, stated the following in a "I support a sensible, compassionate plan that makes medical marijuana available to patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. Such a plan must have proper safeguards and restrictions against abuse. I oppose any plan to decriminalize any drug that is currently illegal for recreational use. I also think it is irresponsible for any public official to publicly advocate decriminalization, because such actions send a terrible and contradictory message both to law enforcement and children who should be taught that illegal drugs are dangerous." Bernard Rimland, PhD, Founder of the Autism Society of America (ASA), wrote the folloing in his 2003 article titled "Medical Marijuana: a Valuable Treatment for Autism?," published in Autism Research Review International: "It is important to keep in mind the distinction between legalizing marijuana for medical uses, which has been done in some states, and 'recreational' drug use which is illegal throughout the
Ethan Russo, MD, Senior Medical Advisor at the Cannabinoid Research Institute, et al., wrote the following in the Jan. 2002 paper titled "Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis," published in the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics: "Cannabis smoking, even of a crude, low-grade product, provides effective symptomatic relief of pain, muscle spasms, and intraocular pressure elevations in selected patients failing other modes of treatment... It is the authors' opinion that the Compassionate
Maurice Hinchey, Member of the US House of Representatives (D-NY), stated the following in a "People who are dying and suffering in states where medical marijuana is legal should be able to use the drug under a doctor's supervision to ease their pain without having to worry that the federal government is going to bust down their door and arrest them. It is immoral to deny people access to medicine that can help relieve their pain and suffering." Mollie Fry, MD, a physician specializing in medical marijuana, stated the following in an "I took an oath to do no harm. If a doctor is willing to give you a prescription for a drug that is addictive or could kill you, then why should you not be able to choose a non-toxic drug like marijuana?" Drew Carey, Host of The Price is Right, stated the following in a "I think it's clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it -- safely and easily." Kate Scannell, MD, Co-Director of the Kaiser-Permanente Northern California Ethics Department, wrote the following in a "From working with AIDS and cancer patients, I repeatedly saw how marijuana could ameliorate a patient's debilitating fatigue, restore appetite, diminish pain, remedy nausea, cure vomiting and curtail down-to-the-bone weight loss. The federal obsession with a political agenda that keeps marijuana out of the hands of sick and dying people is appalling and irrational." Jeffrey A. Miron, PhD, Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at "...characterization of marijuana's effects is meant to suggest that the harms from marijuana are so great that no person who understood these harms would ever voluntarily consume marijuana. That characterization is not consistent with an objective assessment of the evidence."
Christine Smith, 2008 Libertarian Candidate for US President, wrote the following in a "In my opinion government agencies such as the FDA, and DEA stand in the way to American's health with all their regulations. Regulations delay and prohibit pain-relieving drugs and potentially helpful pharmaceuticals/treatments from being available to the American people... Specifically... marijuana should be legal for any purpose. I will end the 'War on Drugs.' I will end the suffering, deaths, and injustice imposed upon Americans by this insane policy. By executive order I intend to pardon people who have harmed no other person and are now incarcerated due to non-violent drug offenses." Jesse L. Steinfeld, MD, former US Surgeon General, stated the following in July 2003, as quoted in the Marijuana Policy Project's (MPP) "Medical Marijuana Endorsements and Statements of Support," available on www.mpp.org (accessed Jan. 27, 2009): "It [marijuana] should be an option for patients who have it recommended by knowledgeable physicians. I don't recommend it for recreational use."
Alexander Tabarrok, PhD, Vice President and Research Director of The Independent Institute, wrote the following in a Sep. 7, 1999 article titled "It's California Versus the Feds on Medical Marijuana," posted on The Independent Institute website: " Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota, stated the following in response to a question from a student at the "Medical Marijuana? I fully support it, absolutely. Who is government to tell someone if they have AIDS or cancer, what they should be taking? To me, you've got a kid here with cancer, I don't give a damn if he smokes a joint." Mary Lynn Mathre, MSN, RN, Co-founder and President of Patients Out of Time, wrote the following in her Nov.-Dec. 2000 article titled "A Virginia Nurse Takes on a Tough Issue: Medical Marijuana," published in The American Nurse: "There are sick people out there for whom marijuana has made a world of difference. We give meds that can kill people, or ruin their liver. We put in feeding tubes for people who can't eat. We should be advocating for the rights of a patient to use this medication if it's helping them."
Andrew Weil, MD, Director of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, stated the following in a June 6, 2002 article titled "Stop the Federal War on Medical Marijuana," published in the San Francisco Chronicle: "As a physician, I am frustrated that I cannot prescribe marijuana for patients who might benefit from it. At the very least I would like to be able to refer them to a safe, reliable, quality-controlled source." The Episcopal Church stated the following in a 1982 resolution passed by the 67th Convention of the Episcopal Church: "The Episcopal Church urges the adoption by Congress and all states of statutes providing that the use of marijuana be permitted when deemed medically appropriate by duly liscensed medical practitioners."
The Libertarian Party stated the following in a "The Libertarian Party is a long-standing advocate for individual liberty and believes that Americans should be responsible for their own actions and, in this case, be able to use alternative forms of medication outside of the realm of insurance companies and the pharmaceutical lobby. Working with like-minded groups, the Libertarian Party will help craft federal legislation that will assist individuals needing medical marijuana to pursue treatment methods without fear of arrest and prosecution by the federal government." Lynn Zimmer, PhD, former Professor Emeritus at the "The question is not whether marijuana is better than existing medication. For many medical conditions, there are numerous medications available, some of which work better in some patients and some which work better in others. Having the maximum number of effective medications available allows physicians to deliver the best possible medical care to individual patients."
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