"In the past, we would go to members of Congress and to state legislators and say: 'Medical marijuana works,' and there was always resistance because of this myth that there was no medical value," said Robert Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocacy group for legalizing marijuana.
"Now we can say, 'Here is the science, it was commissioned by the bad guys, and it shows that marijuana is good medicine,' " Kampia said.
In California, state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), a strong advocate of medical marijuana, welcomed the report.
"With the institute report now in my hip pocket, I will aggressively pursue enactment of legislation this year to provide for a safe and affordable distribution system and to fund clinical research," Vasconcellos said in a statement.
And Lockyer added, in a statement of his own: "The Institute of Medicine report takes an important step toward answering questions about the medical benefits of marijuana. . . . We look forward to the federal government building on this report's findings so that we can wisely implement Proposition 215."
In their news conference, the doctors who wrote the report stressed that they did not believe marijuana should be licensed as a drug. Instead, said Dr. John A. Benson Jr., dean of Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine in Portland, clinical trials "should be done in parallel with the development of new, safe delivery systems of drugs related to the compounds found in marijuana."
Benson issued a stern warning that smoking marijuana could increase a user's chance of developing cancer, of damaging the lungs or of harming fetuses.
"While we see a future in the development of chemically defined cannabinoid drugs, we see little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine," he said. "That said, we concluded that there are some limited circumstances in which we recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses." Such circumstances include the terminally ill, Benson said, "where the long-term risks are not of great concern."
In Washington, AIDS patient Greg Scott came away from the news conference jubilant. "I feel vindicated after years of risking arrest, property forfeiture, fines, imprisonment," said Scott, a Florida man who said he has smoked marijuana daily for seven years to ease his symptoms.
"This report demonstrates there is sufficient scientific evidence to merit an exemption from the marijuana prohibition laws for people who need this medicine," Scott said.
