A medical marijuana conference planned for next week will feature not
just activists and politicians, but John Schwarz, a theoretical physics
professor at the California Institute of Technology and father of
string theory.
Aside from an editorial published in The Huffington Post late last year, the conference will mark Schwarz’s first time speaking publicly on the issue.
"Being a physicist, not a physician, I don’t usually comment on issues in medical science," Schwarz wrote in his editorial.
"But I can no longer remain silent while people in my family and
profession run the risk of federal arrest so that they can follow the
recommendations of their doctors."
One such person is Schwarz’s wife, Patricia, who, after being
diagnosed with a bladder condition in 1995 found medical marijuana was
the only thing that relieved her pain. After listening to her groan
about the issue for years, Schwarz said her husband felt moved to take
up the cause. "We live in a evidence-based society," Patricia Schwarz
told HuffPost. "Why isn’t the science getting through?"
Under federal law, marijuana is considered a schedule I prohibited
substance, defined as having
