City Officals Hear Pot Expert

Cambridge Democratic City Committee members and other city residents met last night to discuss what actions citizens could take to allow doctors in Cambridge to prescribe marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Lester P. Grinspoon, associate professor of psychiatry at the Medical School, and Harvey A. Silverglate, former president of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, described the medical and legal history of cannabis and advocated legalization to a crowd of 40 at Marino's Restaurant in North Cambridge.

Medical cannabis, which is legal in 34 states, alleviates symptoms of AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and glaucoma, said Grinspoon. He added that the drug helped cancer patients deal with the side effects of chemotherapy.

"Cannabis is probably the safest of drugs known to man," said Grinspoon, the author of Marijuana Reconsidered. There has never been a death caused by an overdose of cannabis. You can't take enough to kill you. One doesn't get addicted to cannabis."

Grinspoon described cases in which the drug has considerably eased the nausea caused by chemotherapy for many patients, including Agassiz Professor of Geology Stephen Jay Gould.

The Harvard professor cited incidents where medicinal users have been imprisoned for taking cannabis.

Grinspoon downplayed the risks of marijuana but he admitted that the drug can cause heart problems. When questioned, he denied that marijuana causes brain damage and said the "Partnership for a Drug-Free America has no interest in the facts."

Many Difficulties

Silverglate, a criminal defense lawyer and columnist for the Boston Phoenix, spoke on the difficulties of legalizing medicinal cannabis and said the change will take place through "legislation rather than litigation."

"The propaganda accompanying the drug war has reached up to the highest courts in Massachusetts," said Silverglate.

Several local politicians attended the meeting and said they were supportive of efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"We allow people to use opiates, cocaine derivatives--this is the only drug we don't allow people to use," said City Councillor Edward N. Cyr, who plans to sponsor legislation to legalize medicinal cannabis in Cambridge.

In an interview after the meeting, Cyr said he thinks that the measure will pass in Cambridge but will have a tougher time at the state level.

"I'm not sure the state legislature will grant us authority to have such local regulation," Cyr said. "Regardless, it's a significant statement."

Mayor Alice K. Wolf also briefly attended the meeting and said she supported measures to make the drug more widely available for patients.

"This is another way we should be looking at very carefully to support people in our community who are suffering," said Wolf.