U.S. Will Issue Warnings on Medical Marijuana Laws

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

U.S. Will Issue Warnings on Medical Marijuana Laws

Washington Post (12/31/96)
Suro, Roberto

Abstract: Letters warning of sanctions will be sent to doctors, federal contractors, and others who invoke new laws in California and Arizona that permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the Clinton administration announced Monday. The plan calls for publicizing federal drug laws but does not propose any new legislation, deployments of law enforcement officers, or a legal challenge of the new laws. The administration warned that doctors who prescribe the drug risk losing their federal registration that allows them to write prescriptions. The administration contends that no scientific evidence has shown the benefit of marijuana, but Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala said, "The National Institutes of Health will continue to review the claims about the possible benefit of smoke marijuana for a small number of indications." The AIDS advocacy group ACT-UP has filed a ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., that is similar to the California measure.

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