4/12/2005
Cannabis Substitution Harm Reduction
13
Findings from the initial case confirmed.
Although many authors recommended
cannabis to relieve delirium tremens or the immediate symptoms of drug
detoxification prior to marijuana prohibition in the 1930’s, nothing in the
medical literature until the end of the 1960’s built upon the two cases of
long-term substitution reported by Birch. In 1970, Medical Times published the senior
author's notes of a patient who "when she smoked marijuana she decreased
her alcoholic intake." (Mikuriya 1970) The "Discussion" (the
final two paragraphs) opened:
"It
would appear that for selected alcoholics the substitution of smoked cannabis
for alcohol may be of marked rehabilitative value.