Administration to Retain Ban on Pot Therapy

The Clinton Administration will not relax a prohibition against the medical uses of marijuana because the scientific evidence is still insufficient to prove its therapeutic value, federal health officials said Monday.

They said, however, that they would welcome controlled clinical trials that could further evaluate the drug’s medical potential.

“Sound scientific studies . . . are lacking despite anecdotal claims that smoked marijuana is beneficial,” said Dr. Philip R. Lee, assistant secretary for health, in a letter to Rep. Dan Hamburg (D-Ukiah), one of several lawmakers who had requested a policy review.

From 1976 until 1992, the federal government had allowed a small number of individuals on a case-by-case basis to take the illegal drug for medicinal purposes. These included relieving the nausea and appetite loss that is often a side effect of cancer and AIDS therapy.

But in March, 1992, the George Bush Administration discontinued the program, saying that the drug’s therapeutic value was unproven and that it could, in fact, cause harm to some patients because its use was associated with lung disease and other problems.