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 use of marijuana was necessary to minimize the effects ofmult>iple sclerosis;
 the benefits derived from_ts, use are greater than the harm sought to be pre-
 vented by the controlled substances .law_ and.no drug is as effect-Dye as mar!ijuana
 in minimizing, the effects of the disease in the defendant.
 • - 43. Denis:Petro, M.D..,-is a neurologist of broad experience, ranging
 from active practice im neurology to teaching:the subject in medical school and
 employment by FDA as a medical officer reviewiog INO's and _DA's. He has also
 been employed by phacmaceutical compan'ies and has served as a consultant to the
 State of New York. He is well acquainted with the case histories of three
 patients who have successfully utilized mari_juana to control severespasticity
 when other, FDA-approved drugs fa#led to do so. Dr.. Petro knows of other cases
 of patients who, he has determined, have effectively used marijuana to control
 their spasticity. He has heard reports of additional] patients with multiple
 sclerosis, paraplegia and quadriplagia doing the same. There are reports pub-
 _ished _n the literature known to Dr. Petro, over the period at least 1970 -
 1986, of clinical tests demonstrating that marijuana and THC are effective in
 controlling or reducing spasticity in patients.
 44. Large numbers of paraplegic and quadrip]egic-patients, particularly
 in Veterans Hospitals, routinely smoke marijuana to [-educe spasti.city. Whi. le
 this mode of treatment is illegal, it is generally tolerated, if not openly
 encouraged, by physicians in charge of such wards who accept this practice as
 being of benefit to their patients. There are many spinal cord injury patients
 in Veterans Hospitals.
 45. Or..Petro sought FDA approval to conduct research with spasticity
 patients using marijuanas FDA refused but, for reasons unknown to him, al.lowed
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