Pubdate: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 Source: Rapid City Journal (SD) Copyright: 2001 The Rapid City Journal Contact: PO Box 450, Rapid City SD 57709 Fax: (605) 394-8463 Website: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/ Author: Chet Brokaw MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE PROPOSED PIERRE -- South Dakota should let people with cancer or glaucoma use marijuana to ease their suffering, a state senator said Monday. Sen. Ron Volesky, D-Huron, said he does not want to legalize the use of marijuana as a recreational drug. But it has been shown to help those with glaucoma or cancer, so South Dakota should join the nine other states that have allowed marijuana for medical treatments, he said. "If it could alleviate suffering, I say why not," Volesky said. But opponents said other drugs are more effective for treating symptoms associated with glaucoma and cancer. Allowing marijuana for medical use also would run counter to federal law and could lead to expanded use of marijuana in South Dakota, they said. "We think it opens a door we don't want to open in South Dakota," said Assistant Attorney General Charlie McGuigan. The State Affairs Committee delayed a vote on SB73 until at least Wednesday, when it will hear more testimony on the measure. The bill would allow a patient or the patient's main caregiver to grow or possess marijuana for medical use if a licensed physician gives a written or oral recommendation for the drug's use. Doctors could recommend the use of marijuana only for treatment of glaucoma or treatment of symptoms resulting from chemotherapy given to cancer patients. Some committee members said they would be more comfortable with the measure if it required a doctor's prescription and the drug could be dispensed only by a pharmacist. But Dean Krogman, a lobbyist for the South Dakota State Medical Association, said doctors cannot prescribe marijuana because of federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from California dealing with the conflict between federal law and that state's law allowing marijuana for medical use, he said. The American Medical Association and the state association oppose the legalization of marijuana for medical treatment until further studies are done, Krogman said. Some research has indicated marijuana might help treat some symptoms, but extensive clinical studies have not been done, Krogman said. Other drugs are available to treat the nausea that results when people receive chemotherapy treatments for cancer, but those drugs do not work perfectly for some people, Krogman said. Sen. Fred Whiting, R-Rapid City, said the bill would be better if it did not allow doctors to give oral recommendations and did not allow patients to grow their own marijuana. Committee members said unless distribution were tightly controlled by doctors and pharmacists, people would start growing their own marijuana and give medical excuses for their gardens. Volesky said he could accept changing the measure to restrict distribution. Bob Newland of Hermosa, a lobbyist supporting the bill, said a number of South Dakotans who already use marijuana to treat medical problems will probably testify at the committee's Wednesday hearing. Those people want the bill expanded to allow the use of marijuana to treat problems besides glaucoma and cancer, he said. "They make themselves criminals in order to feel better," he said. Other drugs used to treat glaucoma and cancer are not effective for all patients, Newland said. Those drugs are more dangerous than marijuana, he said. The use of marijuana for medical treatment would not hurt people, Newland said. "Lots of people work and live under the influence of a drug prescribed by a doctor that have more serious and deleterious effects than marijuana," he said. The federal government has been providing marijuana for medical use by only eight people in the nation, Newland said. Sen. Gil Koetzle, D-Sioux Falls, said he became a sponsor of the bill because he has known many friends and relatives who suffered when they received chemotherapy for cancer. "If it will bring any kind of relief whatsoever to the pain these people are going through, I believe it is the right thing to do to help them," Koetzle said. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek