"Steve Dnistrian of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America claims that heartrending medical stories are being used as a smoke screen ‘by people whose agenda is to radically change drug policy in America.’ On that point, at least, Peron (San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club) seems in agreement. ‘This is not about marijuana as medicine,’ he says. ‘This is a cultural war.’ (Too High in California?, Time, December 8, 1997)

"McCaffrey is worried too about the effect medical marijuana will have on marijuana use among teen-agers. ...‘Kids are hearing that marijuana is a medicine, that it can cure these various illnesses. How can anything that’s medicine be that bad?’" (Living with Medical Marijuana, The New York Magazine, July 20, 1997)

"The current rush to medical marijuana is reminiscent of the furor over laetrile in the mid-to late 1970's. ...Drug legalization advocates are stepping up their pressure on states to legalize medical marijuana, much as 27 states did with laetrile in the 1970s." (Medical Marijuana and the Lesson of Laetrile, The Washington Post Weekly Edition, February 24, 1997)

"With marijuana there is more reason to move cautiously. Legalization for medical purposes is likely to make marijuana more readily accessible and acceptable to teens. Whatever the potential relief pot may offer seriously ill patients, we know that smoked marijuana contains carcinogens and that it poses a real and present danger to our youth." (Medical Marijuana and the Lesson of Laetrile, The Washington Post Weekly Edition, February 24, 1997)

"Phillip Lee, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, says that ‘there is no scientifically sound evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies, including an oral prescription medication containing the active ingredient in marijuana." (Medical Marijuana and the Lesson of Laetrile, The Washington Post Weekly Edition, February 24, 1997)

"...drug czar Barry McCaffrey, in his hostile December press conference, held up a chart he attributed to an ally of Peron’s (San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club) listing the medical uses of marijuana, including such dubious ailments as writer’s cramp, aphrodisiac and recovering lost memories. ‘Aphrodisiac, that’s ridiculous,’ Peron says, recalling the list. ‘They are just so uptight they had to throw in some sexual thing.’ What about the lost memories? ‘That’s all right with me. Some people have demons, and they have to chase them away.’" (The Return of Pot, The New Republic, February 17, 1997)

"Legitimation through medicalization is not a novel tactic in drug history. In their times and places, opium, laudanum, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol and LSD have been packaged as cures." (The Return of Pot, The New Republic, February 17, 1997)

"Even for the truly seriously ill, the medical claims for marijuana are dubious. Which is, I suspect, why Dr. Kassirer, (New England Journal of Medicine article, published January 30, 1997 (http://www.nejm.org/public/1997/0336/0005/0366/1.htm) is so dismissive and defensive about having real clinical trials that test whether marijuana does anything more than a placebo. (Pot as Medicine, Washington Post, February 7, 1997)

"Q: What does the body of research on medicinal uses for marijuana actually conclude? A: (The research) dwindled away in the early 1980's, not because of any government conspiracy or some war on drugs policy, but simply because the promises that attracted a number of investigators, including myself, just didn’t seem to be paying off." (Reese T. Jones, researcher on medical use of marijuana in California) Is marijuana good medicine? Scientists say uses may be limited, USA Today, January 3, 1997)

"The problem is that it affects so many systems in the body that it doesn’t lend itself as a good treatment drug. Marijuana is a hallucinogen at higher doses. Those who say it’s a wonder drug tend to gloss over its effect on other systems." (Reese T. Jones, researcher on medical use of marijuana in California) Is marijuana good medicine? Scientists say uses may be limited, USA Today, January 3, 1997)