The
University of Mississippi

Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Bibliographic Services
School of Pharmacy
University, MS 38677
(601) 232-5914  FAX (601) 232-5116

        June 12, 1996

Dr. Lester Grinspoon
Harvard Medical School
74 Fenwood Rd.
Boston, MA 02115

Dear Dr. Grinspoon:

        As I indicated to you in our telephone conversation, we are totally in the dark as to where the statement that there are 10,000 studies showing the negative impact of marijuana could have originated.  For the past 25 years, we at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences have been collecting national and international technical research papers on marijuana and the Cannabis plant and now have a bibliography which includes over 12,000 citations.

        I can only assume that the 10,000 studies mentioned in this statement refer to the total number of citations in our bibliography, but even that number must have been obtained several years ago.  Many of the studies cited in the bibliography are clinical, but the total number also includes papers on the chemistry and botany of the Cannabis plant, cultivation, epidemiological surveys, legal aspects, eradication studies, detection, storage, economic aspects and a whole spectrum of others that do not mention positive or negative effects.

        We are frequently contacted by various individuals and groups requesting the current number of publications that we have listed in the marijuana bibliography, and we readily give out that information.  Apparently it is used as a guage to follow the amount of research being done.  However, we have never broken down that figure into positive/negative papers, and I would not even venture a guess as to what that number would be.

        Your offer to help us clarify our position in this matter is certainly appreciated.

        Sincerely,

        Beverly Urbanek
        Research Associate

Celebrating 25 Years of Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences