The long-awaited Institute of Medicine (IOM) report presents ample scientific evidence confirming that marijuana has therapeutic value for patients with certain conditions. IOM is a private, non-profit organization that was commissioned two years ago by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to perform a "comprehensive review" of marijuana's medical benefits and health effects.

The IOM report was hailed by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and the seriously ill people MPP represents. "The scientific evidence in the IOM report shows that marijuana is a relatively safe and effective medicine for many patients," said Chuck Thomas, co-director of MPP, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. "In light of this report, patients who are already using marijuana should not be arrested and sent to prison."

The IOM report provides a blueprint for additional research into marijuana's medical uses. The report also recommends that while new drug development proceeds, seriously ill people should have legal access to marijuana in the meantime. "We acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting," the IOM report states.

"For patients who do not respond well to other medications, short-term marijuana use appears to be suitable in treating conditions like chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, or the wasting caused by AIDS," said IOM co-principal investigator John Benson, dean of the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine, in IOM's news release.

The report's findings debunk the claims of ONDCP Director Barry McCaffrey and other federal officials. "There is not a shred of scientific evidence that shows that smoked marijuana is useful or needed," said Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey on August 16, 1996, in The San Francisco Chronicle. In his efforts to oppose the medicinal marijuana initiatives in California and other states, McCaffrey has made dozens of statements that have unequivocally denied marijuana's medical uses.

MPP agrees with the following important findings in the IOM report:

1.Smokable marijuana works as a medicine for some people.

2.Patients are already using medicinal marijuana despite its illegality.

3.Marijuana does not present significant health risks relative to medicines that are legally available.

4.No evidence was presented in the report that indicates that prison is better for patients than marijuana.

5.While more research should be conducted into marijuana's medical uses, patients should be permitted to use marijuana in the meantime.

Released by the Marijuana Policy Project, a group which aims to provide the marijuana law-reform movement with full-time, organized lobbying on the federal level.