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Letter of the day: Research is clear on medical marijuana

Dr. David Lang Minneapolis Star Tribune

Burnsville, MN Mar 21, 2007 -- As a family practitioner with more than 20 years of experience, I have treated numerous patients who have told me that marijuana was effective in combating their symptoms. This has been particularly true of patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy, an excruciatingly painful condition for which there is currently no FDA-approved treatment.

Now a top-notch study, published in last month's issue of the peer-reviewed journal Neurology, has come to the exact same conclusion that my patients have been telling me for years: Medical marijuana is an effective treatment for this kind of pain.

So I had to shake my head when I heard that Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom testified that there are "no scientific studies" supporting marijuana's effectiveness. In addition to this very recent article, supportive studies have appeared in respected journals like the American Journal of Surgery, the British Journal of Cancer and Molecular Pharmacology, among many others.

If Backstrom feels that his training is sufficient to debate with the researchers, doctors and patients who have firsthand knowledge of medical marijuana's benefits, that's his prerogative. But to claim that "no scientific studies" demonstrate those benefits is demonstrably false.