Pubdate: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 Source: Daily Beacon, The (TN Edu) Copyright: 2005 The Daily Beacon Contact: http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2321 Author: Bruce Mirken Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) POLICY PROJECT DIRECTOR POINTS OUT MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF MARIJUANA Dear Editor: Regarding the medical marijuana bill recently proposed in Tennessee discussed in "Marijuana legislation proposed" in Wednesday's Beacon, it was not the FDA that put marijuana into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, labeling it as unsuitable for medical use. That was done by Congress, not by any medical or scientific body. The power to change this classification lies with either Congress or the Drug Enforcement Administration -- once again, not scientists or doctors. As for claims that there is no evidence of marijuana's medical value, a great many medical and public health organizations have reviewed the evidence and come to the opposite conclusion. Organizations supporting legal access to marijuana for medical use include the American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine and the state medical societies of New York, California and Rhode Island, among many others. The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, in a White House-commissioned report that was the product of two years worth of research and analysis, stated, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by marijuana." The evidence is clear, but some prefer to ignore it. Bruce Mirken, director of communications Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth