< Return to the Home page

Dear reader,

It is clear that a journal of medicine must remain objective - or it loses it's standing as a journal of medicine. I have read claims that many medical organizations, including the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), support medical marijuana. I have asked several people who have been tracking the issues of using our compassion to force changes in drug policy to find out the TRUTH and here is their response:

The Editor of the NEJM, Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., wrote a shocking editorial entitled "Federal Foolishness and Marijuana" that supported legalizing marijuana as a medicine. It was published in the January 30, 1997, New England Journal of Medicine, and was picked up by the Associated Press -- "Prestigious medical journal endorses prescription pot," (January 30, 1997) by Dan Hanley, Medical Editor for the Associated Press.

Quite an uproar ensued in the medical community and in Drug Watch International and the International Drug Strategy Institute.

On January 30, 1997, Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., responded to a letter from The Northwest Center for Health and Safety. In his response he stated that the opinions he expressed in his editorial were his own.

On 2/5/1997, DWI called the New England Journal of Medicine research department in Boston, MA (617-734-9800) and spoke with Marie Chieppo, Dr. Kassier's research assistant.

Ms. Chieppo confirmed that the article written by Dr. Jerome Kassirer, "Federal Foolishness and Marijuana," is not the opinion of the New England Journal of Medicine. It is the personal opinion of Dr. Kassirer. When asked if it would be accurate to distribute the above statement to the Drug Watch International network. She said, "Yes. It's the truth."

On February 24, 1997, Otto Moulton, President of the Committees of Correspondence, wrote a letter to Senator Orin Hatch about the issue and stated that he had "checked with the New England Journal of Medicine, and they responded that this was the opinion of their editor, Dr. Jerome Kassirer, and not the position of the NEJM."

On May 6, 1997, the WebMaster of www.drugwatch.org, posted a portion of a letter to a member of the board of Drug Watch International from Jerome Kassirer:

Jerome Kassiere, M.D., editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, recently published an article supporting the use of crude marijuana for medicine. In answer to a letter of concern, he replied, "Except for editorials about Journal policies and practices, all editorials in the New England Journal of Medicine represent the opinions of the authors and are not official policies of the Journal."

I hope this helps you to understand that you have not always been told the truth by people working this issue because they don't want to tell the truth, they don't know the truth and/or they don't want you to know the truth. Sometimes these lies get published by newspapers as quotes and sometimes the lie is perpetuated because an editor did not fact-check an article.

Sincerely,

Andrea G. Barthwell, MD