vol1 - Page 252

 We were all looking for the Holy Grail, that
 is_ topical drug delive/y, and the Holy Grail
 let US downs and that was a very_ very big
 i,i_
 disappointment .... I think a lot of
 people, particularly in the ophthalmic
 co_m/nity_ have simply lost interest in the
 utilization of marijuana because (a) it has
 to be smoked, and you know_ as a pharmacolo-
 , gist I have nothing against that type of drug
 _> delivery .... and secondly_ because of the
 other effects that marijuana has .... They
 won't do it because they're not convinced now
 that i_@oefficacious over a long-term
 basis. _/
 ._i; Apparently, the National Eye _nstitute_ which funded
 Greenes efforts to isolate a topical_ marijuana-based eyedrop_
 and the AAO are not prepared to risk their politically
 i_ comfortable convictions about marijuana_s lack of therapeutic
 utility to the hazards of neutral scientific inquiry. Having
 -utterly failed in their efforts to formulate a synthetic
 ..... i! substitute for marijuanas they have si_ly retired from the
 fields secure in theirignorance.
 Persons with a more direct interest in the quality of
 ocular care, _9._, patients_ aided by physicians willing to
 tolerate the petty insults perpetuated by those clinging to an
 %Lncertain orthodoxy, _-_-/ have not been so idle.
 ......;
 558/ Cross=examination of Keith Green, PhoD., Tr. 9-151 & 9-152_.
 ___/ The Alliance believes the AAOes Ad Hoc Committee violated
 fundamental tenants of professional ethics and common good
 manners in providing Government attorneys with copies of Dr.
 Merritt's confidential handwritten notes® While nothing in these
 ......_ notes was of parti_alar significance, the fact the Academy
 retained them for three years and then provided them to DEA is
 significant and underscores the extent to which marijuana's
 Schedule I classification has corrupted candid medical discourse
 and debased professional standards of ethical conduct. Such
 repugnant professional behavior sends a _chi!ling a message to
 ..... other physicians who might take the AAO's declarations regarding
 the need for additional research too seriously.