vol2 - Page 284
Page 284
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24
75. The government's witnesses ask the Drug Enforce=
ment Administration to regard marijuana as unacceptable because
it is not perfect. But perfection is not an acceptable stan-
dard for judgmento In medicine, perfection is never possible°
Marijuana has side effects_, some patients may not llke smoking
or may find the drug's _euphorIc _ effects unsettling_ But,
imperfect marijuana is as *safe w fo_ medical use as imperfect
Timoptic or Diamox or Pi!ocarPlne_ and imperfect marijuana is
as _effective" in lowering intraocular pressures as any of the
other imperfect drugs currently accepted as effective for use
in glaucoma therapy°
76. These hearings are not a search for perfection,
but for appropriate =esulatory policies. Marijuana is _effec-
...... <_ tire in the treatment of giaucoma and X have no doubt that if
marijuana were legally available many ophthalmologists woula
not hesitate to p:escribe this drug to some of _heir patients.
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