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                        Internet http://www.norml.org
   . . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to marijuana
                                prohibition.
                             September 25, 1997
                Congress To Hold Hearing On Medical Marijuana
               NORML Board Member, Others Scheduled To Testify
          September 25, 1997, Washington, D.C.:  Dr. Lester Grinspoon -- an
international authority on medical marijuana and a member of NORML's board
of directors -- will testify in favor of allowing seriously ill patients
legal access to medical marijuana at an October 1 hearing before the House
Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime.  Grinspoon is a professor at
Harvard Medical School and the author of Marihuana, The Forbidden Medicine
as well as over 140 articles in scientific journals.
          "This hearing is a golden opportunity to educate Congress on the
medical utility of marijuana in the treatment of glaucoma, cancer
chemotherapy, spasticity disorders, AIDS wasting syndrome, and chronic
pain," announced NORML's Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, who testified
at similar hearings held in March 1996.  "It is also a chance to gather
Congressional support for H.R. 1782, the 'Medical Use of Marijuana Act.'"
          H.R. 1782, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) in June,
would remove federal restrictions that currently prevent physicians from
legally prescribing marijuana.  Presently six members of Congress -- Reps.
Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), John Olver (D-Mass.),
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Peter Stark (D-Calif.), and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.)
-- are co-sponsors of the legislation.   Frank's bill is the fifth proposal
in favor of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use to be introduced in
Congress since 1981.
          "We welcome the opportunity to have someone with the
qualifications of Dr. Grinspoon speak before this subcommittee on this
important health issue," Stroup said.
          For more information, please contact R. Keith Stroup, of NORML @
(202) 483-5500.
          Florida Voters Favor Legal Access To Medical Marijuana By
                              Nearly 2-1 Margin
          September 25, 1997, Fort Lauderdale, FL:  Nearly two of every
three Florida voters favor allowing licensed physicians to prescribe
marijuana for medical reasons, according to the results of a Florida Voter
poll released on September 22.
          Toni Leeman, Director of the Florida-based Coalition Advocating
Medical Marijuana (CAMM) as well as Floridians for Medical Rights, said the
results are consistent with other surveys demonstrating overwhelming support
for permitting seriously ill patients to use marijuana under a doctor's
supervision.   "Considering that we still are in the process of educating
people [about marijuana's medicinal utility,] I think those are good numbers
and I think it points to success."  Leeman's group is presently collecting
signatures in each of the state's 67 counties to place a medical marijuana
initiative on the 1998 ballot.
          Sixty-three percent of respondents said they would approve an
amendment to the Florida Constitution legalizing marijuana for medicinal
uses, the Fort Lauderdale-based survey said.  Only about one in four, or 28
percent, said they opposed such use.  The survey has a margin of error of
plus or minus four percentage points.
          "I'm confident that we'll be able to get the signatures because
there has already been so much interest in this," Leeman said.
          For more information, please contact Toni Leeman of CAMM @ (305)
576-2337 or Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
 Nation's Fourth Largest School District To Administer Random Drug Tests To
                                  Students
          September 25, 1997, Miami, FL:  Dade County became the nation's
largest school district to approve a high school drug testing program.
Students who have their parent's approval will be randomly drug-tested for
marijuana, cocaine, opiates, barbiturates, and amphetamines, reported the
Associated Press on Thursday.
          "It's total parental empowerment," said school board member Renier
Diaz de la Portilla, who proposed the program.  "Not all parents have the
time to make sure their kids aren't doing drugs," he said.  "We're doing
this as a service [to parents.]"
          Dade plans to spend up to $200,000 to initiate the program and
expects to begin testing as early as January.  Approximately 345,000
students attend Dade County public schools.
          "Drug testing students without reasonable suspicion is completely
inappropriate and most likely unconstitutional," charged NORML Executive
Director R. Keith Stroup.  He noted that the United States Supreme Court
recently struck down a Georgia statute mandating political candidates to
undergo a drug test before running for political office because it violated
Fourth Amendment protections granted by the U.S. Constitution.
          For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup or
Paul Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.  NORML's position paper: A Look At
The Historical Legal Basis For Urine Testing is available upon request.
Yale University Releases Revised Version Of Harvard Medical Professor's Book
                            On Medical Marijuana
          September 25, 1997, New Haven, CT:  Yale University Press released
a newly revised version of the definitive book on medical marijuana on
September 15.
          Marihuana, The Forbidden Medicine by Dr. Lester Grinspoon and
James Bakalar, received high praise from reviewers and medical professionals
when the hardcover first appeared in 1993.  This timely new edition features
an expanded list of symptoms and disorders treatable with marijuana, and an
update of the argument regarding how the drug should be made available.
          Dr. Robert Swift of the New England Journal of Medicine called the
first edition "cogent and convincing. ...  The authors present a compelling
argument for unrestricted access to [the] therapeutic agents derived from
marijuana.  This book provides an excellent overview of the subject from a
medical perspective."
          Dr. Rick Strassman of the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) agreed.  "Grinspoon and Bakalar have provided a valuable
compendium of marijuana's beneficial properties," he said.
          The first edition is currently available in nine languages.
          Copies of the second edition of Marihuana, The Forbidden Medicine
may be purchased from NORML @ (202) 483-5500.
            Paul McCartney Advocates Marijuana Decriminalization
          September 25, 1997, London, England:  Paul McCartney, singer and
songwriter for the legendary band The Beatles, recently advocated
decriminalizing marijuana in an interview with the New Statesman Magazine.
          "I support [the] decriminalization [of marijuana,]" McCartney
said.  "People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal[s] is
wrong."  He added that it was pointless to incarcerate marijuana smokers
because that experience exposes them to a legitimate criminal element.
          McCartney noted that he spent nine days in a Japanese prison in
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