Pelosi blasts crackdown on medical marijuana
But Pelosi, in her statement, said the administration’s actions were hurting seriously ill patients.
“I have long supported efforts in Congress to advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana (and) that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals,” she said.
“For some users, perhaps as many as 10 per cent, cannabis leads to psychological dependence, but there is scant evidence that it carries a risk of true addiction. Unlike cigarette smokers, most users do not take the drug on a daily basis, and usually abandon it in their twenties or thirties.
Unlike for nicotine, alcohol and hard drugs, there is no clearly defined withdrawal syndrome, the hallmark of true addiction, when use is stopped.”
- Colin Blakemore, PhD
Chair, Dept. of Physiology, University of Oxford (U.K.), and
Leslie Iversen, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology, Oxford University
Editorial, The Times (U.K.)
Aug. 6, 2001
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Bob Egelko