Pubdate: Thu, 31 May 2001
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 2001 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.starbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/196
Author:  Helen Altonn
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Court Case)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

HARVARD DOCTOR PRAISES MARIJUANA AS MIRACLE DRUG

Dr. Lester Grinspoon Says Pakalolo Is Safer And Cheaper Than Conventional Drugs

Despite conflicting state and federal laws, medical marijuana is here 
to stay, says Dr. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard University.

Not only that, "it will be seen as a kind of miracle drug during the 
next decade," the psychiatry professor predicts.

A nationally recognized authority on marijuana, Grinspoon is among 
key speakers at a two-day conference, "Marijuana in 2001: Medical and 
Social Issues," that opened yesterday at the Ala Moana Hotel.

The third annual Hawaii Conference on Addictions, sponsored by the 
John A. Burns School of Medicine, is aimed at giving medical 
professionals and others the latest information about the science of 
marijuana, benefits, risks, and national and international 
perspectives.

Hawaii and other states have authorized use of marijuana for certain 
illnesses, but the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal law 
classifying marijuana as illegal makes no exception for seriously ill 
people.

"It is a great disillusional system, in my view," said Grinspoon, 
author of "Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine." In an interview 
yesterday, he said medical marijuana "simply can't be denied, once 
people discover for themselves how useful it is and how nontoxic it 
is compared to conventional drugs."

They will "become believers" when they find that marijuana "is a hell 
of a lot cheaper and easier to take" for cancer than a series of 
pills costing $35 each, he said.

When his book was first published in 1993, Grinspoon said, the 
associate dean of Harvard's medical school read it but said nothing.

A few years later, he called Grinspoon to ask if taking Marinol, a 
synthetic form of marijuana, would help his 67-year-old 
mother-in-law, who had pancreatic cancer.

Grinspoon said the man was horrified when he told him it would not 
help as much as if she smoked marijuana. "He said she'd never use 
marijuana. So I gave him instructions on Marinol and said if she has 
difficulties, call me."

The next call to Grinspoon was from the ailing woman, asking for 
help. Grinspoon asked if she had a grandchild who could teach her to 
roll a joint and smoke one with her. She said her grandchildren had 
been urging her to smoke marijuana.

Grinspoon advised her to take one puff and wait a few minutes to see 
how she felt. He told her to call him if she had any problems.

About a month later, the associate dean told him at a meeting, "My 
whole family is indebted to you."

At a Christmas party at the associate dean's home after the woman 
died, his wife greeted Grinspoon, again saying how indebted the 
family was to him because the quality of her mother's life had 
improved so much.

She said she was angry at herself for carrying on "like a banshee" 
when her three sons smoked marijuana in college, Grinspoon said. 
"What's all the fuss?" she concluded.

Grinspoon said the public is misled by the government, that there is 
nothing toxic in marijuana. Yet more than 700,000 people, mostly 
young, are arrested annually on marijuana charges -- 88 percent just 
for mere possession, he said.

Grinspoon referred to a talk yesterday by Dr. David H. Friar, 
University of Hawaii assistant professor in psychiatry, discussing 
why marijuana is important to brain science.

"If we are to get at the truth about medical marijuana, about 
recreational marijuana use, about marijuana abuse and dependence," 
Friar said, "we must go beyond the emotional polarity of the 
lionizers and the demonizers and commit ourselves to fearless and 
objective investigation."

Grinspoon said he was a "demonizer" until he started to see how 
marijuana helped patients. It is not harmless, he said, but it will 
be seen as one of the safest drugs when added to the thick book of 
pharmaceuticals.

Marijuana has never caused a death, while more than 7,000 people die 
annually in the United States from aspirin and other nonsteroidal 
anti-inflammatory drugs, he said.

"It is a myth imposed upon this country that this is a terrible, 
dangerous drug. What's happening, as people see it as medicine, they 
ask, 'What's all the fuss?'"

When asked about who is pushing to keep marijuana classed as illegal 
under federal law, Grinspoon said he could not answer that. But if it 
is legalized, he pointed out, "conventional drug companies are going 
to lose."

He said he was surprised that drug companies were supporting the 
medical school's marijuana conference.

Friar described the chemical structure of marijuana and some of the 
latest studies. He said research is important to learn how marijuana 
causes its effects in the brain, but "science has been stifled for 
decades" because most research money is controlled by the federal 
government, which is "in the ranks of the demonizers."

Dr. Donald Abrams, assistant director of the AIDS Program at San 
Francisco General Hospital and professor of clinical medicine at the 
University of California-San Francisco, said it is a "Catch-22" 
situation: Marijuana cannot be used legally as a medicine because 
adequate research has not been done, and adequate research cannot be 
done because marijuana is illegal.

William Haning III, University of Hawaii associate professor of 
psychiatry, said one of the most controversial issues is what 
constitutes dependence, and dosage and frequency do not matter in 
determining that.
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe