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Smoke Pot, feel better, risk arrest

(The following article, by Lee Slater, appeared in New Mobility in 1990. Marijuana is still illegal.))

Almost everyone in the gimp community has heard this helpful home tip for controlling muscle spasms: smoke marijuana. They say reefer's good for you. The way it's explained is you've got five choices:

  1. Take nothing and spaz out;
  2. Get a ton of Valium from your doctor (and you know he'll give 'em to you) and become a zombie;
  3. Take Dantrium and count the days till your liver rots;
  4. Have alcohol injected into your lower spinal cord and lose your joystick forever; or
  5. Smoke pot, feel better, and risk arrest.

Marijuana has been legally prescribed to treat glaucoma and the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. But is it also therapeutic for people with spinal cord injury paralysis and multiple sclerosis? That assertion is being made by a Washington-based organization. The Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics (ACT) has introduced a large body of evidence into federal court proceedings supporting the medical benefits of pot smoking, and a special administrative law judge has recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration reschedule marijuana so that it can be prescribed for a wide range of medical conditions.

Is the time coming when paras and quads will be smoking legally prescribed, FDA approved, government supplied marijuana? Maybe.

Since 2657 B.C. when Emperor Shen-Nung chronicled marijuana as medically effective for relieving pain associated with gout, rheumatism, and other diseases, physicians of both Eastern and Western cultures have routinely ordered cannabis sativa for a variety of maladies and complaints. Throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, marijuana was prescribed by doctors in the United States for such disorders as rheumatism and uterine hemorrhage, and as an anti-spasmodic and anti-convulsant in treating tetanus and meningitis. However, due to the increased use of the herb for recreational purposes, marijuana came under the scrutiny of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics. Deemed a dangerous intoxicant by that agency, Congress legislated the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, making legal acquisition of the drug almost impossible.

In 1970, having associated the upheaval of the 1960s with drug abuse, Congress passed the Controlled Substance Act, classifying marijuana, along with heroin and LSD, as a Schedule I narcotic, meaning it has no medical or research applications.

This law was immediately denounced by several pro-marijuana groups, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and ACT. Robert Randall is president of ACT and editor of the book Marijuana, Medicine and the Law. He is also a glaucoma patient and one of the three people in the United States now smoking marijuana legally. He gained legal access to the drug in an out-of-court settlement with the government and credits marijuana with saving his eyesight. ACT supports people who use the medical necessity defense when charged with possession of marijuana.

ACT's clients include several paras, quads, and MSers who, in defiance of the law, use marijuana to treat their muscle spasms. Many doctors and patients have testified at DEA hearings, asserting that marijuana has a wide range of medical applications. They have asked the DEA to re-classify marijuana as a Schedule II drug so that it can be researched and prescribed as a treatment for several kinds of disabilities.

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