SANCHEZ: Mr. Kampia, what credible research has been done to demonstrate marijuana's therapeutic use?

KAMPIA: Well, in the late '70s and early '80s, there were seven states, including California and New York, that did statewide research projects involving marijuana that came from the federal government. And it involved hundreds of patients in each state. One of the states actually was Tennessee. Al Gore's sister was using marijuana for cancer back in, I think, 1981 or '82. And each of these states concluded their studies in '84 or '85, something like that. And they all issued reports. And the reports showed that some patients benefited from Marinol pill. Some patients benefited from marijuana, but not the pill. And some patients benefited from neither, which is kind of what we see when we talk to patients, that some respond to one, some respond to the other, some don't respond to either. So those studies were done.

And since then there's a whole host of studies being done in the University of California. There's 10 or 11 studies going right now, I think, which was mentioned earlier today. And there's been dozens of other studies done by private researchers here and there in the 1970s and early '80. And those studies were all summarized by the Institute of Medicine, which released this comprehensive book in 1999. And it was paid for by the White House drug czar's office. I think they were looking for some conclusions in this book that they didn't get. But we hold the book up now because we like it because it shows that marijuana actually does have medical value.

And furthermore, I should point out, another glitch here in how we don't follow science around here is the IOM, in the very beginning of their book, recommended that until a non-smoked rapid onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana such as pain or AIDS wasting. And they recommended on the same page that patients be able to get a 24 turnaround if their physician and the patient decide that they need marijuana, that the federal government should give them the opportunity to use marijuana within 24 hours.

KAMPIA: I have never heard any member of Congress, nor the drug czar, decide that they were going to jump on that IOM recommendation and make that happen.

SANCHEZ: Thank you for your testimony. I have no more questions.