95 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
95 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
From: carlolsen@dsm1.dsmnet.com
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Newsgroups: alt.hemp
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Subject: 1988 DEA MARIJUANA RULING
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Date: 23 May 1994 23:08:56 GMT
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Message-ID: <2rrd28$itj@dsm6.dsmnet.com>
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The following can be found on pages 56-59 of a 68-page OPINION AND
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RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF
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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE by Judge Francis Young, ruling In The Matter of
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MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION, Drug Enforcement Administration Docket No.
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86-22, September 6, 1988.
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VIII.
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ACCEPTED SAFETY FOR USE UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION
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With respect to whether or not there is "a lack of accepted safety
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for use of [marijuana] under medical supervision", the record shows the
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following facts to be uncontroverted.
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Findings of Fact
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1. Richard J. Gralla, M.D., an oncologist and Professor of Medicine
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who was an Agency witness, accepts that in treating cancer patients
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oncologists can use the cannabinoids with safety despite their side effects.
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2. Andrew T. Weil, M.D., who now practices medicine in Tucson,
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Arizona and is on the faculty of the College of Medicine, University of
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Arizona, was a member of the first team of researchers to perform a Federal
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Government authorized study into the effects of marijuana on human subjects.
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This team made its study in 1968. These researchers determined that
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marijuana could be safely used under medical supervision. In the 20 years
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since then Dr. Weil has seen no information that would cause him to
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reconsider that conclusion. There is no question in his mind but that
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marijuana is safe for use under appropriate medical supervision
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3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the
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possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?
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4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects.
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But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive
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medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced
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fatality.
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5. This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana
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encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used
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daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest
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that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit
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illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical
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supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily
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high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports
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to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.
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6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine,
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causes hundreds of deaths each year.
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7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an
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LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test
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animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A
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number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuanas LD-50 rating
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in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been
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unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.
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8. At present it is estimated that marijuanas LD-50 is around
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1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce
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death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as
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much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied
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marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would
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theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about
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fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.
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9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as
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a result of drug-related toxicity.
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10. Another common medical way to determine drug safety is called
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the therapeutic ratio. This ratio defines the difference between a
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therapeutically effective dose and a dose which is capable of inducing
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adverse effects.
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11. A commonly used over-the-counter product like aspirin has a
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therapeutic ratio of around 1:20. Two aspirins are the recommended dose for
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adult patients. Twenty times this dose, forty aspirin, may cause a lethal
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reaction is some patients, and will almost certainly cause gross injury to
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the digestive system, including extensive internal bleeding.
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12. The therapeutic ratio for prescribed drugs is commonly 1:10 or
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lower. Valium, a commonly used prescriptive drug, may cause very serious
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biological damage if patients use ten times the recommended (therapeutic)
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dose.
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13. There are, of course, prescriptive drugs which have much lower
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therapeutic ratios. Many of the drugs used to treat patients with cancer,
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glaucoma and multiple sclerosis are highly toxic. The therapeutic ratio of
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some of the drugs used in antineoplastic therapies, for example, are
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regarded as extremely toxic poisons with therapeutic ratios that may fall
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below 1:1.5. These drugs also have very low LD-50 ratios and can result in
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toxic, even lethal reactions, while being properly employed.
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14. By contrast, marijuanas therapeutic ratio, like its LD-50, is
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impossible to quantify because it is so high.
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15. In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods
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we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a
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toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough
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marijuana to induce death.
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16. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest
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therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational
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analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical
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care.
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DEA Docket No. 86-22, Sept. 6, 1988, pages 56-59.
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