Tod Mikuriya - Psychiatrist, Medical Marijuana Advocate Passes

Author: Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer


TOD MIKURIYA - PSYCHIATRIST, MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE

Tod H. Mikuriya, a Berkeley psychiatrist who helped draft
California's medical marijuana law, died at his home Sunday of
complications of cancer. He was 73.

Dr. Mikuriya was a well-known medical marijuana advocate whose
practice made him the physician of last resort for patients
throughout California who said marijuana eases their suffering.

He was the founder of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and an
architect of Proposition 215, the initiative approved in 1996 by
state voters that legalized growing and using marijuana for medical
purposes with a doctor's recommendation.

In 2003, Dr. Mikuriya was investigated by the Medical Board of
California on allegations of unprofessional conduct and negligence in
his handling of 16 cases since 1998. Supporters said the case was
politically motivated and payback for his vocal support of medical marijuana.

The state placed him on probation, but Dr. Mikuriya appealed and
continued to practice. "If his health hadn't failed, he would have
appealed (to a state appeals court)," friend Fred Gardner said Monday.

"It didn't affect his practice, it just affected his pride," Gardner
said of the Medical Board's ruling. "It hurt him that he was
considered anything but a great doctor going by the book."

Dr. Mikuriya was born in Pennsylvania in 1933 to Anna Schwenk, a
German immigrant and practicing Baha'i, and Tadafumi Mikuriya, a
Japanese samurai who converted to Christianity. He received a Quaker
education at George School and Haverford College before graduating
from Reed College and serving as a medic in the Army. He attended
Temple University School of Medicine, where he saw a reference in a
pharmacology text to the medical uses of marijuana.

After getting his medical degree, he served an internship at Southern
Pacific General Hospital in San Francisco, specialized in psychiatry
at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem and completed his training at
Mendocino State Hospital.

In 1967, Dr. Mikuriya became director of nonclassified marijuana
research for the National Institute of Mental Health Center for
Narcotics and Drug Abuse. But he left the position after several
months when "it became clear they only wanted research into damaging
effects (of marijuana), not helpful ones," he said.

Dr. Mikuriya moved to Berkeley in 1970 and entered private practice.

In 1973, Dr. Mikuriya published "Marijuana Medical Papers," an
anthology of journal articles devoted to cannabis.

His interests were varied, said his family, who called him a "modern
man for all seasons."

He enjoyed racing cars, flying airplanes, singing and playing
traditional folk music, and singing choral music and Elizabethan
madrigals. He collected tools, electronic gadgets, political
newspaper cartoons and marijuana T-shirts and posters.

"People didn't really appreciate that Tod was not just all about
pot," his sister, Beverly Mikuriya, 61, of Bucks County, Pa., said
Monday. "He was really a very eclectic person who had lots of other
interests and abilities."

Besides Beverly Mikuriya, Dr. Mikuriya is survived by another sister,
Mary Jane Mikuriya, 71, of San Francisco; his son, Tadafumi "Sean,"
34, of Nevada City; and daughter, Hero. Contributions can be made to
the Friends Committee on Legislation, 245 Second St. NE, Washington,
D.C. 20002-5795; George School, Annual Fund Director, Box 4438,
Newtown, PA 18940-0908; or Reed College, Office of College Relations,
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., Portland, OR 97202-8199.

A memorial service will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Quaker
Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St., Berkeley.