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 concepts in a shortsighted attempt to block mazijuana_s medical
 use might have very serious, unintended consequences.
 63. Similarly, X must express my concern for the way
 Dr° Robert Hepler characterizes the AAO report he submitted as
 part of his filing. X was a member of t_is Academy commit-
 tee. From the start Z was concerned with the overtly
 political_ as opposed to medical, emphasis of the AA0 in
 appointing the committee and in determining memberships The
 committee's conclusions were not reached by a cogent assessment°
 of the data, but by prearrangement. In the end, I was so
 disgusted by the committee's prejudgment of the issue, blind-
 ness to the available facts and disregard for long accepted
 scientific criteria for determining utility (as discussed
 _ above), that I resigned my position to protest the committee's
 action.
 64° The AAO Committee's report was allegedly devel-
 ....... oped in response to consressiona! legislation_ _n point of
 fact, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no pending
 legislation before Congress on this subject° The fact that the
 AAO report is dated June 21_ 1987, only underscores the extent
 to which this supposedly "scientific and medical review u was
 designed to address essentially non-medical issues relating to
 ...... social poli6y. Starkly stated_ in my opinion the AAO did not
 want to offend powerful federal agencies or come under fire
 from rabid anti-pot _roups who, for reasons I cannot compre-
 hend, oppose marijuana's availability for use in programs of
 medical care. _n every sense the AAO report is a Mpolicy"
 i ..........................




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