William Creighton Woodward
William Creighton Woodward M.D., was a medical doctor and a lawyer who was the legislative counsel for the American Medical Association from 1922 to 1939. He was an early proponent of medical marijuana.Biography
Woodward was born on December 11, 1867 in Washington, DC. He attended Georgetown University School of Medicine and graduated with an M.D. in 1889.
In 1894 he was appointed as the health officer for the District of Columbia.
He married Ray Elliott Woodward around 1895, and had three children: Creighton Elliott Woodward, Doris Woodward, and Elinor Woodward.
In 1900 he received his law degree from Georgetown University.
By 1903 he was secretary of the Board of Medical Supervisors of the District of Columbia.
In 1918 he was appointed as the health officer for the Boston, Massachusetts.
He was the head of the Bureau of Legal Medicine and Legislation at the American Medical Association starting in 1922.
He opposed the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. In 1938 as counsel for the American Medical Association he defended the AMA when the Sherman Antitrust Act was used to stop the AMA from preventing physicians from forming group practices.
He died on December 22, 1949 in Washington, DC. He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.
