"...many other doctors remain wary of the implications of the use of marijuana in medicine. ‘Who could possibly be against sick and dying people getting relief, but the way it’s set forth, you can’t disentangle it from the legalization effort,’ said Dr. Sally Satel, an addiction psychiatrist in Washington. Marijuana, she said, should be ‘explicitly limited to grossly debilitated people who have failed all other interventions, those near death and those who need it for an acute problem.’" (Doctors Criticize Move Against State Measures, New York Times, December 31, 1996)

"Supporters of the California measure did their cause no good by immediately lighting up marijuana cigarettes after it passed last month and proclaiming that a legitimate medicinal use would include smoking a joint to relieve stress. Dennis Peron, originator of the California initiative, said afterward: ‘I believe all marijuana use is medical - except for kids.’ These actions made it obvious that the goal of at least some supporters is to get marijuana legalized outright, a proposition that opinion polls indicate most Americans reject." (Marijuana for the Sick, New York Times, December 30, 1996)

"‘It’s a bad idea to start legalizing marijuana even for medical cases, because it could lead to its use everywhere. Somebody will find a way to exploit these laws just to get pot, so it’s better to just keep it illegal and find another medical drug that works as well.’" (Erin Spradling, 16, High school student, Farmington, N.M., Voices: Should marijuana be allowed for medical purposes? USA Today, December 30, 1996)

"‘The people who would like to see marijuana legalized like its euphoric effects," she (Dr. Carmen Escalante, deputy director of the ambulatory care center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center) said. "The current anti-nausea medications do not cause those,’ she said." (Gone in Puff of Smoke? Marijuana’s medical possibilities may have passed, some say, Houston Chronicle, November 11, 1996)

"Advocates of medical use of marijuana are sometimes charged with using medicine as a wedge to open a way for ‘recreational’ use." (Lester Grinspoon, MD and James B. Bakalar, JD, JAMA, June 21, 1995)