Pubdate: Thu, 17 May 2001
Source: Boston Phoenix (MA)
Copyright: 2001 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group.
Contact:  http://www.bostonphoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/54

LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Politicians Must Catch Up With The Public Will

THE US SUPREME Court's May 14 ruling that federal law bans the manufacture 
and distribution of medicinal marijuana is disappointing, to say the least. 
But the representatives and senators from the nine states that have 
legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes should lead the charge 
in Congress to amend federal law and make pot use legal under certain 
medical circumstances. And voters should let their elected representatives 
in Congress know that they want the law to allow for medicinal use of 
marijuana.

Researchers have found that pot helps minimize the nausea that plagues many 
cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. It reverses the wasting syndrome 
that afflicts many AIDS patients.

It can ease the symptoms of glaucoma and has even been found to relieve the 
spasticity sometimes associated with multiple sclerosis.

In a recent poll of 960 physicians conducted by Rhode Island Hospital, 
three-quarters of the doctors had an opinion on the matter. Of those, about 
half said that marijuana should be available by prescription to those who 
need it; doctors who frequently saw cancer patients were much more 
receptive to medicinal marijuana use than those who did not. A 1990 survey 
of oncologists found that half would prescribe pot if it were legal, and 44 
percent said they had recommended the drug at least once. In 1997, the New 
England Journal of Medicine editorialized that a€śresearch should go on, 
and while it does, marijuana should be available to all patients who need 
it to help them undergo treatment for life-threatening illnesses. Even the 
federal government, in a 1999 study conducted over two years by the 
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that 
marijuana has clear medicinal benefits.

Yet the feds, who control the nation's only legal supply of marijuana, have 
made it all but impossible for researchers to obtain the drug. And Congress 
has failed to pass any legislation on the issue since 1970, when it added 
marijuana to the Controlled Substances Act's list of illegal drugs.

It's nothing short of political cowardice.

Our draconian war on drugs has led us to the point where our laws 
prohibiting the use of marijuana -- whether for medicinal or recreational 
purposes -- do more harm than use of the drug itself. If you are convicted 
of possession of small amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts, you can be 
sentenced to probation or up to six months in prison and fined $500. In 
1997, 11,202 people were arrested for marijuana offenses in the Bay State. 
All this in a culture where revelations of recreational pot use by 
politicians -- including presidential candidates -- hardly merits the 
raising of an eyebrow.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon convened a commission to study the effects 
of marijuana.

The committee concluded that federal and state laws should be amended to 
end criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of the drug. In 
1977, President Jimmy Carter delivered a message to Congress in which he 
repeated the commission's findings: "Penalties against drug use should not 
be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere 
is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana for 
personal use." Amen.

As of today, nine states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, 
Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington -- have legalized the medicinal use 
of pot. Favorable legislation is pending here in Massachusetts (though it's 
a long shot) as well as in Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New 
York, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. A recent CNN poll found that 79 
percent of Americans support the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

Even if the feds prosecute those using marijuana for medicinal purposes 
under existing law, it's doubtful they could find a jury that would convict.

Not so ironically, the case that resulted in the May 14 Supreme Court 
ruling involved a federal request for an injunction against a cannabis club 
based in Oakland, California, that was distributing marijuana to medical 
patients. Prosecutors took this tack rather than bring charges against the 
club -- which would have necessitated a jury trial -- because more than 70 
percent of voters in Oakland approved California's 1996 medical-marijuana 
ballot referendum.

There can be little doubt that the public is moving in one direction while 
our politicians remain too fearful of appearing soft on crime to do the 
right thing and move with us. There's a remedy for that. It's called voting 
people out of office. Congressman Barney Frank has filed legislation that 
would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

You can call him at (617) 332-3920 to tell him you support his efforts.

In the meantime, you can call Congressman Joe Moakley at (617) 428-2000 and 
Michael Capuano to ask them to support the bill.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens