According to a dispatch from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a report from the Institute of Medicine, commissioned by the White House drug czar’s office, which was released in 1997, “contradicted the claims of the drug czar and other federal officials.”

According to the dispatch:

“1. It showed there is scientific evidence indicating that marijuana has medical uses.

2. It recommended that people with AIDS, cancer, and chronic pain who have an urgent need for marijuana be provided with immediate legal protection while further research is done on marijuana’s medical uses.

3. It debunked the “gateway theory,” saying that there is no evidence that using marijuana will “lead” someone to use cocaine and other drugs.

4. It said there is no evidence that allowing sick people to use medical marijuana will cause an increase in the recreational use of marijuana.

That report has been used as the intellectual foundation of most medical marijuana efforts in the decade since.”

I still think that freedom and  responsibility for self make the best possible society. I hope that we will return to those principles and stop the drug war.

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