"Medical facts are too vague to overturn [a patient's] informed choice, concrete harm is not inflicted on innocent third parties, and considerations of ... symbolic harm cannot outweigh the suffering that can probably be removed by the drug," the commentary states.

The author further adds that "freedom, properly understood, provides a sound ethical reason to allow the use of cannabis in medicine."

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Abstracts of the commentary are available online at:
http://www.jmedethics.com