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Jane Kelley wrote in a message to Alex Vasauskas:
AV>This is not a rational argument for precluding research into the
AV>medical benefits of marijuana.
 JK> The "research into the medical benefits of marijuana" is touted by
 JK> those who are determined to find an excuse for the drug of their
 JK> choice in all too many posts I see.
No "excuse" should be needed for adults to do what they decide to
do with their personal lives according to their own prerogatives.
This includes taking marijuana as an herb for medicinal purposes,
and for some it may include occasional, stress-relieving or even
just hedonistic intoxication.  Furthermore, the only need for
currrent, medical research is to refine and expand our knowledge
regarding the herb, *not* to *discover* that it has medical benefits:
(free 2 copy (*)-------------------(free 2 forward)
  C A N N A B I S:
  MEDICAL REALITY 
 
      VERSUS 
AUTHORITARIAN BRUTALITY
by Ian Williams Goddard
[...]
CANNABIS: THE MEDICAL REALITY
Classified by the DEA as a "Schedule One" drug, can-
nabis is defined as extremely dangerous possessing 
NO MEDICAL VALUE. This classification stands in  
sharp contradiction to the medical reality.
A Brief History of Medical Cannabis
For thousands of years prior to its prohibition in
the 20th century, cannabis was used as a medicine 
throughout the world [1]. During the 19th century, 
sold by major drug companies such as Eli Lilly, 
Squibb, Parke-Davis, Smith Brothers, and Tildens, 
the potent extract of cannabis was one of the
top three most prescribed medical agents in the 
United States [2] [3]. 
Until the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, cannabis, being a 
powerful topical analgesic, muscle relaxant, anti-
inflammatory, and anti-spasmodic agent, was found 
in virtually all fistulas, corn and mustard plasters,
muscle ointments, and fibrosis poultices [3]. 
UNITED STATES PHARMACOPEIA listed cannabis until
1942 [4], after which it was removed under political  
pressure. The U.S. PHARMACOPEIA recommended cannabis
for the treatment of over 100 illnesses, such as:
fatigue, fits of coughing, rheumatism, asthma, 
delirium tremens, migraine headaches, and the cramps
and depression associated with menstruation [3].
UNITED STATES DISPENSATORY [5] also listed cannabis 
as a useful medicine. The 1851 edition states:
     The complaints in which it [cannabis] has 
     been specially recommended are neuralgia,
     gout, rheumatism, tetanus, hyrdophobia, 
     epidemic cholera, convulsions, chorea, 
     hysteria, mental depression, delirium 
     tremens, insanity and uterine hemorrhage. 
In 1890, Dr. J. Russell Reynolds, Fellow of the Royal 
Society and the Physician in Order to Her Majesty's 
Household, stated in the journal LANCET that cannabis 
is ``one of the most valuable medicines we possess [4].'' 
He prescribed cannabis to Queen Victoria for PMS [3].
In 1898 Sir William Osler, Professor of Medicine at the 
University of Oxford, stated that for migraine headaches, 
cannabis ``is probably the most satisfactory remedy [6].'' 
The 1931 medical text, A MODERN HERBAL [7], states:
     The principal use of Hemp in medicine is 
     for easing pain and inducing sleep, and for 
     soothing influences in nervous disorders. 
     It is useful in neuralgia, gout, rheumatism,  
     delirium tremens, insanity, infantile 
     convulsions, insomnia, etc. 
 >>> Continued to next message...
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