On 7 and 8 April the First National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics was held at the Iowa State University IMU, sponsored by the UI Colleges of Nursing and Medicine, along with Patients Out of Time.

An estimated 80 people, health-care professionals, lawyers and patients, used the conference as an opportunity to discuss the uses and variations of marijuana. Melanie Dreher, the dean of the nursing school, who helped to organize the conference, said attendance at the conference was fairly high, considering the subject. It was broadcast live via satellite to sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia and Canada.

Conference Co-chairwoman Mary Lynn Mathre said she hopes people were able to see the issue of medical marijuana use from a different perspective after listening to the various presentations. "We're not trying to say it has no problems or that it works for everyone," she said.

People such as George McMahon, one of eight people in the United States who not only has federal government permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons, and Scott Imler, president of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, are hopeful the UI conference contributes to public discussion and allows people to talk about using marijuana for medical purposes more openly.

(Sources: COMTEX-Newswire of 10 April 2000)