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   . . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to marijuana
                                prohibition.
                               August 14, 1997
         Activist Loses Challenge To Have Marijuana Removed From The
                           Canadian Criminal Code
          August 14, 1997, London, Ontario:  Canadian marijuana activist and
business owner Chris Clay lost his bid to strike down federal laws outlawing
the use of marijuana.  Clay launched his constutitional challenge with the
assistance of Toronto law professor Alan Young and attorney Paul Burstein
after law enforcement officials raided his retail store in London, Ontario
in December 1996 for selling non-sterilized marijuana seeds.
          Clay challenged the validity of Canada's present laws outlawing
marijuana on several grounds.  Citing a 1988 Canadian Supreme Court decision
affirming a woman's right to an abortion, he argued that Canadians have a
right to make autonomous decisions with respect to their bodily integrity
and security.  Clay also relied on a 1975 Alaskan Supreme Court decision
asserting that an individual's right to privacy embodied the right to
cultivate small amounts of marijuana in one's home.  He further argued that
the current law is overly vague, and that it is arbitrary for Parliament to
criminalize conduct which is relatively harmless.
          The case was decided late Thursday afternoon.
          For more information, please contact attorney Paul Burstein @
(416) 204-1825 or visit the Hemp Nation website at: www.hempnation.com.
             NIH Report Supports Marijuana's Medical Potential,
                          Recommends Future Trials
          August 14, 1997, Washington, DC:  Marijuana has therapeutic
potential in the treatment of many serious illnesses including AIDS wasting
syndrome, spasticity disorders, and glaucoma, and future scientific trials
should be funded by the federal government, said a report released by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) on August 8.
          NIH experts agreed that marijuana "looks promising enough to
recommend that there be new controlled studies done."  Panelists insisted
that future trials should not hold marijuana to higher scientific standards
than those applied to other medications or required by law.  The report also
noted that there are patients "for whom the inhalation route might offer
advantages over the currently available capsule formulation."
          NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the
panelists findings, but warned that previous calls for research have gone
unanswered by federal health organizations.  "The National Academy of
Sciences issued similar recommendations in 1982," Stroup explained.
"Unfortunately, the federal government failed to act on their findings."
Presently, research protocols to examine marijuana's therapeutic value in
the treatment of the AIDS wasting syndrome and acute migraines are awaiting
NIH approval.
          Stroup also said that calls for future research must in no way
preclude seriously ill patients from using marijuana medicinally in states
that already allow for its therapeutic use.  "A lack of conclusive
scientific evidence in this area does not warrant arresting patients who are
currently using marijuana medicinally nor does it justify harassing doctors
who wish to recommend or prescribe marijuana in compliance with state law."
          White House spokesman Mike McCurry told the Associated Press that
the administration continues to oppose the use of marijuana to treat sick
people.  Earlier this year, Clinton administration officials threatened to
arrest doctors who recommend or prescribe marijuana in accordance with state
law.
          "The NIH report is a step in the right direction, but provides
little protection to those thousands of seriously ill patients already using
medical marijuana," summarized Stroup.  He added that health officials gave
no explanation as to why the report was delayed for more than four months.
          For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or
Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
      New England Journal Of Medicine Opines For Immediate Legal Access
                            To Medical Marijuana
          August 14, 1997:  For the second time this year, the highly
acclaimed New England Journal of Medicine, argued for the medicinal use of
marijuana.  Just one day prior to the release of an NIH report recommending
future medical marijuana trials, an article by George Annas in the August 7
edition of the magazine demanded that seriously ill patients have legal
access to marijuana.  Annas is a professor at Boston University's School of
Medicine.
          The following excerpt is taken from the "Conclusions" of that
article.
          "Doctors are not the enemy in the 'war' on drugs; ignorance and
hypocrisy are.  Research should go on, and while it does, marijuana should
be available to all patients who need it to help them undergo treatment for
life-threatening illnesses. [Emphasis added. -ed.]  There is certainly
sufficient evidence to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug.
...Marijuana is not claimed to be a treatment in itself; instead it is used
to help patients withstand the effect of accepted treatment that can lead to
a cure or amelioration of their condition.  As long as therapy is safe and
has not been proven ineffective, seriously ill patients (and their
physicians) should have access to whatever they need to fight for their
lives."
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