THE FED'S TAKE
by James Rutenberg

W hile some researchers have gone so far as to claim that marijuana helps boost disease-fighting T-cells for people with AIDS, government health officials say there is no such proof. On the contrary, they say it may harm the immune system. No definitive United States study on the positive effects of pot on terminal diseases has ever been conducted.

"We have concerns about the safety of any smoked substance--particularly its effect on the immune system," says Rayford Kytle, a spokesman for the National Institutes of Health, which distributed marijuana to a select list of patients until 1992, when a study raised concerns about the practice. (Eight people around the country still receive marijuana under the old program.)

Jim McGivney, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency, says that as far as the agency is concerned, breaking the law is breaking the law. "We have no special project that targets these clubs specifically," says McGivney. "But these clubs are subject to investigation just like all other individuals breaking the law."

An empty threat? In four years the DEA has failed to bust a single cannabis buyers' club. The concern among activists is that that may change, depending on the outcome of the McCormick, Moore and McKee trials. If they go to prison, the movement is in trouble. The activists are setting out to change things legislatively before that happens.

Two years ago, it looked like support might be forthcoming from the Clinton administration. Then Surgeon General-nominee Jocelyn Elders said before her confirmation that she supported the use of medical marijuana. While President Clinton said he didn't agree, the statement didn't block her appointment. But with Elders gone now, and anti-drug conservatives running Capitol Hill, pot activists are concentrating on the state level.

Thirty-seven states have passed bills formally recognizing marijuana's medicinal value. The bills carry no real legal support for medical marijuana, but serve as a message to the Federal government that those states would look favorably upon legalization for the seriously ill. A full-fledged medical marijuana legalization bill has passed both houses of the California state legislature twice, but Governor Pete Wilson has refused to sign it. Dennis Peron's statewide ballot referendum on the bill will almost certainly make it onto the 1996 ballot.

Links to the Other Side

THE DEA ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
The Drug Enforcement Agency's response to the June '95 JAMA article entitled "Marihuana as Medicine - A Plea for Reconsideration," (which you can find in the library on the third floor).

"The DEA will remain opposed to the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II because there are no proven medical applications for its use. In fact, the American Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies and the American Cancer Society have rejected marijuana as medicine. Statements issued by these organizations express concern over the harmful effects of marijuana and the lack of solid research demonstrating that its use would do more good than harm."

THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
A reasoned discussion of the uses of marijuana to combat nausea from chemotherapy.

"For the most part...smoking marijuana is no more effective than taking synthetic THC by mouth. Moreover, inhaling marijuana smoke is a health hazard; more than 400 potential carcinogens (cancer-causing compounds) are found in the smoke. Marijuana cigarettes obtained 'on the street' may vary in effectiveness and also can be contaminated with disease-causing agents."

INDIANA PREVENTION RESOURCE CENTER
"Clearing the Marijuana Smokescreen," by William J. Bailey, M.P.H., Executive Director, Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University.

From "Myth #4: Marijuana as Miracle Drug": "The pro-marijuana activists have recently focused their attention on so-called "medical benefits" of marijuana for controlling nausea in certain chemotherapy patients, or in the treatment of glaucoma, as a smokescreen for legalizing marijuana....

Before getting into the dispute over the merits of medical use of THC, one has to question the logic in using cigarettes of any type as a vehicle for administering medication. More than half of the active dose of the drug is destroyed by the combustion, and the remaining drug is commingled with toxic tars and particulate matter in the smoke. We don't smoke aspirin when we have a headache and don't smoke penicillin for an infection. Inhaling any type of smoke is injurious to one's health. Smoking is an inefficient and potentially deadly means of drug administration."

MARIJUANA SMOKING AS MEDICINE - A CRUEL HOAX, an op/ed piece by Gabriel Naha, M.D., and Nicholas Pace, M.D.

"....the crude drug marijuana taken by inhalation has only limited effectiveness in the treatment of vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy and documented negative effects on pulmonary, cardiovascular and immunity systems...."

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE (NIDA)
"Marijuana Antagonist Reveals Evidence of THC Dependence in Rats," by Neil Swan, NIDA Notes Contributing Writer. A study presented last summer at NIDA's National Conference on Marijuana Use: Prevention, Treatment, and Research, which NIDA is making much of.

MORE NIDA
"Attention and Memory Impairment in Heavy Users of Marijuana," from a February '96 study.

DRUG WATCH OREGON
An organization called "Drug Watch Oregon" has a damning article which states, among other things, that "marijuana components damage the ability of human immune cells to function."

DRUG WATCH INTERNATIONAL
"Medical Marijuana: Truth and Lies," from "Drug Watch International."

"Crude marijuana does not meet the scientific requirements for efficacy, quality, purity and safety necessary to be considered medicine. It is neither compassionate nor medically responsible to prescribe harmful impure substances to ill people."

THE NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL INFORMATION
NCADI is the information service of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. NCADI is the world's largest resource for current information and materials about alcohol and other drugs.

THE CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION (CSAP)
CSAP was established to lead the Federal efforts in prevention and intervention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse (ATOD) among the Nation's citizens.

NIDA - A SAMPLING:
"Marijuana: Facts for Teens:

Contents

What is marijuana?
How is marijuana used?
How long does marijuana stay in the user's body?
How many teens smoke marijuana?
Why do young people use marijuana?
What happens if you smoke marijuana?
What are the short-term effects of marijuana use?
Does marijuana affect school, sports, or other activities?
What are the long-term effects of marijuana use?
Does marijuana lead to the use of other drugs?
How can you tell if someone has been using marijuana?
How does marijuana affect driving?
Is marijuana sometimes used as a medicine?
If someone is pregnant and smokes it, will marijuana hurt the baby?
What does marijuana do to the brain?
Can people become addicted to marijuana?
What if a person wants to quit using the drug?

Marijuana Fact: Most teenagers do not use marijuana. Fewer than 1 in 5 high school seniors are current marijuana users.

Q:What is marijuana? Aren't there different kinds?

A: Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana.

Sinsemilla (sin-seh-me-yah; it's a Spanish word), hashish ("hash" for short), and hash oil are stronger forms of marijuana.

All forms of marijuana are mind-altering. This means they change how the brain works. They all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. But there are also 400 other chemicals in the marijuana plant.

Marijuana Fact: Marijuana can mess you up. Your performance in school, sports and other activities will suffer if you're high.