Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2000
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2000 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  P.O. Box 3110 Honolulu, HI 96802
Fax: (808) 525-8037
Website: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Author: Lynda Arakawa, Advertiser Capitol Bureau

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA BILL DRAWS EMOTIONS

Scott Foster told legislators how marijuana helped relieve the symptoms of 
his late wife who suffered so much pain from cancer that she dug her nails 
into his skin and drew blood.

He was among more than a dozen people yesterday who urged the House 
Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee to pass a bill to legalize 
marijuana for medical purposes.

Committee Chairman Eric Hamakawa (D-S.Hilo, Puna) deferred action on the 
bill, saying he wants to have an opportunity to work through some of the 
suggested amendments from those who testified.

"I want to make sure we send out a clean bill," he said.

Much of the discussion was filled with emotional testimony supporting the 
bill, other legal issues remain unresolved, such as the fact that federal 
laws would still bar marijuana use for any purpose, and that federal 
authorities could arrest any users.

Opponents including the Honolulu Police Department and the Hawaii Medical 
Association raised those concerns. They also said medical marijuana must be 
studied further and stressed that it is not approved by the federal government.

The bill would legalize the use of medical marijuana for patients who have 
been diagnosed as having a debilitating medical condition and whose 
physician certified in writing that marijuana is medically necessary for 
the patient.

The state Department of Health supported the intent of the bill, saying 
"humane and compassionate efforts are part of good health care."

"This proposal allows physicians and patients to have an alternative drug 
with which to treat people with HIV (and) AIDS and other serious medical 
conditions . . .," said Elaine Wilson, who heads the department's Alcohol 
and Drug Abuse Division.

More states are legalizing medical marijuana for people with cancer, 
glaucoma, HIV and AIDS, and other conditions, she said. Medical use of 
marijuana has been permitted in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and 
Alaska.

Hilo lawyer Cynthia Linet said she smoked marijuana a year ago to ease her 
nausea and restore her appetite while she underwent chemotherapy. When she 
finished chemotherapy, she stopped the marijuana with no withdrawal 
effects, she said.

Donald Topping, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said 
marijuana has a long history of being used medicinally and that thousands 
of sick and debilitated people nationwide found marijuana to be safe and 
effective. That people are afraid of using marijuana to ease their pain and 
symptoms is "a shameful state of affairs," he said.

But Maj. Susan Dowsett of the HPD Narcotics/Vice Division said: "Medicine 
in the United States is determined through scientific study and analysis, 
not through anecdotal evidence or claims by marijuana advocates."

She said the issue should be left to federal authorities, who are studying 
medical marijuana, and that if medical marijuana is legalized without 
proper scientific protocol and controls, it will "undoubtedly lead to its 
diversion into the illicit drug market and will result in the increased 
abuse of the drug."

Dowsett, as well as the Honolulu Prosecutor's Office, also said 
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is found in marijuana, can already be 
prescribed.

Heidi Singh, director of legislative and government affairs for the Hawaii 
Medical Association, said more studies should be done on medical marijuana, 
and that "physicians cannot in good faith recommend a drug therapy without 
clinical evidence to back it up."
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