Same Day Multiple Prescriptions
 Why is Our Government Pursuing a War on Doctors?

Free Electronic Newsletter

Advocacy groups such as the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative [HTML] and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) [HTML] have had some limited success in persuading legislatures to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes, including pain management. See e.g., States With Active Medical Marijuana Laws (Summary by NORML) [HTML]. For background on medical use see Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999) [OpenBook]; Alison Mack and Janet Joy (Institute of Medicine), Marijuana As Medicine?: The Science Beyond the Controversy (2000) Institutes of Medicine [Openbook].

A limited number of state statutes provide limited protections for medical uses of marijuana. These protections are generally limited derogations from or defenses to prohibitions on cultivation, possession or use. They generally do not contain more sophisticated pro-palliative care provisions such as those found in state statutes modeled on the Pain Relief Act. Legal issues involve cases interpreting or challenging state legalization provisions. Much of the academic comment focuses on the apparent disconnects between medical, state and federal policies.