The New Physician, a national medical journal with a monthly circulation of over 60,000 physicians and medical students, has become the first major national medical journal to speak out in favor of the legalization of marijuana.
An editorial in the March 1969 issue entitled: “Pot: Hobby not Habit,” it was suggested that unless new medical evidence is unearthed to prove any ill effects from marijuana, then “marijuana should enjoy the same status as alcohol.”
In recommending a new look at this controversial drug, Associate Editor Lawrence Brilliant, who will receive his M.D. degree from Wayne State University in May, applauded the recent decision of the American Civil Liberties Union which seeks to support efforts to remove all legal penalties from the use or possession of marijuana.
The New Physician is the official journal of the Student American Medical Association.