December 9, 2004 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: Federal legislation introduced last week seeks to require the US National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop a "meta-analysis of the available scientific data regarding the safety and health risks of smoking marijuana and the clinically-proven effectiveness of smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, and to require the Food and Drug Administration to promptly disseminate the meta-analysis." The bill, H.R. 5429, was introduced by longtime medical cannabis opponent Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), along with Reps. Henry Bonilla (R-TX), Jack Kingston (R-GA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Christopher Smith (R-NJ). NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said that the scientific record shows definitively that cannabis has medical utility, and criticized Rep. Souder's "longstanding and willful ignorance" of the subject. "NORML suggests that Rep. Souder and his colleagues begin their analysis by reviewing the National Academy of Sciences 1999 report, 'Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base,' which verified that cannabis is efficacious in the treatment of a number of symptoms, including nausea, appetite loss, and chronic pain," St. Pierre said. That report, which was funded by the White House, further concluded, "Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications." For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500.