vol2 - Page 275

 o_ 52. D_, Hepler_ Keith Greene and the American
 Academy of Ophthalmology ('AAO _) report submitted by Dr. Hep!er
 concur with Dr. Spaeth_s conciusion_ A_ the AAO Report on "The
 Use of Marijuana in the Treatment of Glaucoma" states, "Glau °
 coma is a condition that is characteri=ed by an intraocular
 pressure higher than the eye can tolerate. This pressure
 causes damage to the optic nerve And prog=essive loss of visual
 field."
 53. The AAO report continues_ "Effective treatment
 for glaucoma involves the use of pharmaceutical agents or
 surgical procedures that prevent progressive optic nerve
 damage. TO DATE, THE ONLY CLINICALLY EF_iCTXVE M_THOD OF
 ACCOMPLISHING THIS XS BY LOWERING INTRAOCULAR PI_ESSURE."
 '" "LL 54. The reductŁon of ocula_ tensions is central to
 the effective medical control of glaucoma. All _accepted" drug
 and surgical therapies currently deemed to be effective in the
 ....... treatment of glaucoma seek to reduce abnormally elevated
 intraocular pressures_ The accepted standard of what
 constitutes "effective _ treatment, therefore, is measured
 ....... against a drug's abiiity to lower the patient's ocular
 tension. This standards the ability to reduce intraocular
 prissures, has been recognized for decades as the ONLY reliable
 method for determining the utility of glaucoma control drugs.
 55, There simply is no other accepted standard
 against which to judge the "effectlveness _ of a glaucoma
 control therapy. All drugs now accepted as "effective _ in the
 treatment of 9!aucoma were deemed to be effective because they