|
Prestigious journal endorses medical use of pot
In this story:
January 30, 1997
Web posted at: 3:00 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Andrew Holtz
BOSTON (CNN) -- The New England Journal of Medicine has come out in favor of doctors being allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes, calling the threat of government sanctions "misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane."
In an editorial in Thursday's editions, the journal's editor Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer wrote, "Whatever their reasons, federal officials are out of step with the public."
The journal is one of the world's most prestigious medical publications.
Voters in Arizona and California last fall passed propositions letting doctors prescribe pot for medical uses. But the Clinton administration issued stern warnings for doctors who do this, saying they could lose their prescription-writing privileges, be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid and even be prosecuted.
Kassirer told CNN that such a policy undercuts doctors. "It seemed to me a very heavy-handed approach and really quite an inappropriate approach. What the federal government is saying is that they don't trust doctors."
Herbal debate
Some doctors believe marijuana can relieve internal eye pressure in glaucoma, control nausea in cancer patients and combat the severe weight loss seen in AIDS patients. Administration officials, however, note that such uses of marijuana have not been proved.
But Kassirer said marijuana is safer than drugs used legally for some of the same conditions, such as morphine. "If it relieves suffering, even from one patient, why not allow physicians to prescribe it?"
He added that it would be hard to prove marijuana's effectiveness in patients because of the difficulty of measuring nausea and other such ailments.
Administration officials contend that the medical marijuana measures confuse children and teen-agers about the potential dangers of the drug.
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Policy, stands by the administration's hard-line policies.
(156K/7 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
"Other treatments have been deemed safer and more effective than a psychoactive burning carcinogen self-induced through one's throat," McCaffrey wrote in response to the Journal's editorial.
Report: Study casts cloud of smoke
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reported Thursday that a federal study completed more than two years ago found that marijuana's main ingredient did not cause cancer in laboratory animals.
The paper said the 126-page report on the $2-million study was never published, although expert reviewers found in June 1994 that the scientific methods used were sound. The findings go against the contention of some federal officials that marijuana is carcinogenic.
McCaffrey said his office was not aware of any such study.
Related stories:
- Patients flock to Cannabis Club for medicinal fix - January 15, 1997
- Source: U.S. won't let doctors recommend marijuana - December 24, 1996
- Law enforcement officials fear marijuana law fallout - November 16, 1996
- Marijuana proponents relish victory - Nov. 6, 1996
- New drug plan targets youth, crime - April 29, 1996
- U.S. wants cooperation in war on drugs - Mar 1, 1996
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- New England Journal of Medicine
- The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
- Californians For Compassionate Use
- The White House
- Marijuana as a medicine
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Americans for Compassionate Use
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
Tell us what you think!
You said it...
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.