Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: Magazine Page 22
Author: Randy Cohen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Note: Only first section relevant to drug policy.

THE ETHICIST: HERBAL MEDICINE

I have H.I.V. and use cannabis to alleviate nausea and lack of appetite. A 
friend grows and provides it at no cost. I distribute the remaining 
cannabis to 15 or so other people who either have H.I.V. or are undergoing 
chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our lives come 
first. Are we not being ethical? -- Anonymous, Virginia

I'm with you: what you are doing is illegal but not unethical. Society 
acknowledges a moral right to break the law in extreme circumstances each 
time a sitcom cop pulls over some hapless guy for speeding and asks, "O.K., 
buddy, where's the fire." The implication: if the driver really is racing 
to extinguish a blaze, exceeding the speed limit is acceptable. Similarly, 
medical necessity can trump marijuana laws. While there are sound arguments 
for law-abiding behavior even when a law is ludicrous, in this situation 
you harm no one while relieving the suffering of the gravely ill who have 
no alternative remedy -- compelling reasons to violate the law. And you 
needn't worry that you are implicated in the occasional gunplay of the 
marijuana trade; that violence is a consequence of prohibition, not 
pharmacology, and in any case one would expect the not-for-profit, 
grow-your-own network of medical cannabis suppliers to be insulated from 
the excesses of the commercial trade.

A recent Supreme Court decision confirms marijuana's classification under 
federal law as an illegal Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted 
medical use." Although the ruling does not overturn state statutes -- eight 
states have passed medical marijuana initiatives -- it contradicts what 
many patients and doctors (including the California Medical Association) 
believe. Thus, for you to provide cannabis to the seriously ill is not just 
an act of compassion, but also an assertion of truth, albeit not one a 
Federal Drug Enforcement Agent would find persuasive.

- ---

A professor of sociology, I am editing an anthology with a colleague. I 
accepted, pending revisions, an essay from a young man who phoned to tell 
me how groundbreaking my own work was and in general to stroke my ego. I've 
since discovered that he reviewed a book of mine, calling it just plain 
bad. It seems dishonest of him to suck up to me while simultaneously 
destroying my book. May I cut his essay from the anthology, or should I 
refer the decision to my co-editor. L.E., Brooklyn

Having tentatively accepted his essay, you ought not reject it because the 
author is a deceiver who hurt your feelings. If editors rejected the work 
of every ill-mannered writer, our nation would face a serious literature 
shortage. (Not a problem for my editor, of course.) But once you've gone 
this far, you should take the high road and recuse yourself, leaving it to 
your co-editor to determine the revised essay's value or -- with luck -- 
lack thereof.

Were you starting anew, you'd have no obligation to accept this young cad's 
work. A book is not a public accommodation: it is your project and can be 
shaped by your personal preferences, however quirky -- only brilliant 
writers, only stylishly dressed writers who know their way around a dance 
floor. But even then, your professional reputation would best be served 
were you to consider only the scholarly qualities of each essay, not the 
weaselly behavior of its writer. His insolence you could vividly describe, 
if not in the notes on contributors, then in your memoirs.

To revile you with one hand and suck up with the other (if that is 
anatomically possible) would be discreditable, but the putative hypocrite 
might see this differently. He may well admire your work in general while 
seeing flaws in your book. Such is the cut and thrust, the kick and kiss, 
of academic life.

Send your queries to  or The Ethicist, The New York 
Times Magazine, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, and include a 
daytime phone number. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: GD