Marijuana: Medical Papers, 1839-1972

As a full-time research consultant at the N.I.M.H. Center of Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies, Dr. Tod Mikuriya discovered just how much the English and American medical profession has known about cannabis for the past 130 years. Having access to priceless original documents, he has compiled this authoritative and fascinating collection of medical papers on marijuana. From 1839, when the herb was first introduced into the Western pharmacopoeia, to present research with THC, the anthology offers rich insights into the whole social history of medicine.The studies published herein convey a wide variety of critical information, ranging from laboratory tests performed on animals and human subjects, to anthropological descriptions of marijuana use by African women during labor. A number of unusual and seldom-seen illustrations--from pharmaceutical catalogues in the days when Parke Davis and others marketed legal marijuana as a cure for coughs and corns--are both instructive and entertaining. In the section of clinical and pharmacological studies, a deep look is taken at the range of therapeutic effects attributed to a plant which has had prescribed medical uses for more than 2700 years, and is currently used by an estimated 250 million people.If not always conclusive, these studies nonetheless dramatically show that marijuana has potentially great medical value. The impressive accumulation of information regarding it has been unfortunately relegated to the dust bin for decades by puritanical legislators and medical practitioners ignorant or unheeding of existing scholarship in the field. The final chapter analyzes the reasons behind the 1937 Tax Act which outlawed the use of marijuana, driving it underground, and offers some disturbing conclusions based on hitherto unpublished official hearings and interviews with former government officials.Amidst the marijuana referendums, judicial challenges, and states vs. federal legislation, Marijuana: Medical Papers provides essential information--most of it never before available except in scarce, out-of-print medical journals--on a topic of tremendous current interest.Endorsements"Dr. Mikuriya collected and brought out in Marijuana Medical Papers material that the medical schools should have been teaching. The reader Dr. Mikuriya had in mind for MMP was a colleague who realized that he'd learned nothing about cannabis in medical school." Fred Gardner, editor, O'Shaughnessy's, Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group"Dr Tod was the undisputed father of the modern Medical Cannabis Movement. Now it's our turn to follow his lead." Andrew Glazier, activist, owner oaksterdam.com"I first read this book in 1973 and have read it over and over and over again all my life. I still love this book--it has changed my life. Anyone interested in the subject of cannabis should read this book." Jack Herer, author, The Emperor Wears No Clothes"Marijuana: Medical Papers makes a valuable contribution in documenting the early medical history of marijuana. It is a collection that will be referred to for generations to come." Ed Rosenthal, marijuana researcher and writer"The pre-1900 'I'll-try-it-on-myself-and-describe-what-happens' reports in this book not only abound with descriptive techniques that should still be copied, but they are truly entertaining." Journal of the American Medical Association"This is probably the best compendium available of the major studies and observations that have been made on marijuana and its derivatives during the past 135 years." Dana L. Farnsworth, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry"This treasure trove of shrewd clinical observation ... should fascinate physicians interested in the history of their craft...." Edward M. Brecher, Medical World News