MARIJUANA RESEARCH FINDS SUPPORT

The Jan. 25 editorial, "Legalize pain relief for cancer patients,"
indicated that the medical community is at fault for not pushing the
government for more medical marijuana research. In fact, the medical
community has urged the government to conduct comprehensive
well-controlled medical tests of smoked marijuana to determine the
efficacy of marijuana use for patients who have serious conditions
such as some forms of cancer, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries
and AIDS.

Further, the Wisconsin Medical Society urges the National Institutes
of Health to implement a program to act as a clearinghouse for
facilitating well-designed clinical research studies on medical
marijuana use. This program should include: Specific information for
researchers on the safeguards for medical testing of marijuana;
adequate funding to support such research; NIH protocol to support and
develop a smoke-free inhaled delivery system to reduce THC health
hazards associated with marijuana use; and effective patient/physician
confidentiality. Patients or physicians should not be subject to
criminal sanctions.

Research on the medical use of marijuana documents potential benefits
- -- as well as additional health hazards from smoking marijuana, a
crude and unhealthy delivery method. There remain questions concerning
the variety of marijuana used, the possibility of infection in people
with compromised immune systems, the difference between inhaled versus
ingested forms, and many others that make its usage at this time
premature. The medical community is not against research into the
medical uses of marijuana and has advocated for more research so that
its full benefits and risks will be known.

Paul Wertsch, president, Wisconsin Medical Society