Uncle Sam's Patented Marijuana Medicine

Jacob Sullum | July 9, 2008, 4:06pm August 1996: Federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey tells the San Francisco Chronicle "there is not a shred of scientific evidence that shows that smoked marijuana is useful or needed," adding, "This is not medicine. This is a cruel hoax." December 1996: Asked whether there is "any evidence...that marijuana is useful in a medical situation," McCaffrey says, "No, none at all." February 2001: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services files a patent application for the medical use of cannabinoids, saying they are "useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases," and "are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following... [read full story]