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Tod H. Mikuriya (b. 1933 Pennsylvania) is a psychiatrist and an advocate for the legalization of the use of marijuana for medical purposes. He was the director of non-classified marijuana research for the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies. His 1972 self-published book, Marijuana Medical Papers 1839-1972 became a landmark in the modern movement for the legalization of Medical marijuana. As of 2004 he continues in private psychiatric practice. He has approved marijuana for medical purposes in over seven thousand patients, not solely in terminal cases, but also alleviation of physical and emotional pain in non-terminal cases. The legal situation is extremely complex—see Medical marijuana. His practices are controversial and have drawn him into conflict with authorities.
In a 1998 interview, Mikuriya, whose father was an Asian and whose mother was Quaker, made a connection between his family background and his views. "The Quakers were proprietors of the Underground Railway, I’m proud to say. The cannabis prohibition has the same dynamics as the bigotry and racism my family and I experienced starting on December 7, 1941, when we were transformed from normal-but-different people into war-criminal surrogates."
Mikuriya wrote the lyrics for several songs used in the campaign for the 1995 Medical Marijuana Initiative in California. One criticized what Mikuriya saw as the hypocrisy of then-President Clinton:
- Our pudgy White House waffler
- Who never did inhale
- The deaf and blinded congress
- Wants to put us all in jail
- And it don't look like they're ever going to cease their panderin
- So keep on with the struggle
- For compassion, love, and trust.
- California needs drug laws
- That protect, and are just
- But it looks like they're never gonna cease their panderin.
External links
Dr. Mikuriya's personal website including personal photographs showing various stages of his career
Mikuriya, Tod H.
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