Pubdate: Mon, 14 Jul 2003
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2003 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact:  http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233

SILENCING PHYSICIANS

Bush Administration Unwisely Interferes in Doctor-Patient Relationships

The Bush administration is making an ill-conceived re-entry into the debate 
over the medical use of marijuana, and Nevadans may well suffer the 
consequences. Last week, the administration appealed a decision by the 9th 
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which prevented the government from 
punishing, or even investigating, physicians in California who advised 
seriously ill patients that medicinal marijuana may be a legitimate 
treatment for debilitating illness.

Recall that voters in California, Nevada and seven other states amended 
their constitutions to permit the medical use of marijuana. And while the 
U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that there's no "medical exception" 
to federal drug laws enabling the state to distribute marijuana to sick 
people -- even if a voter initiative OK'd the practice -- the decision did 
not explicitly prohibit the possession and use of the drug for medical 
purposes.

Last week, the White House asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 9th 
Circuit's decision. The case was brought by patients in California, who 
challenged a Clinton administration policy that threatened to revoke the 
medical licenses of any physicians who recommended "Schedule I" drugs 
(including marijuana) to patients as treatment.

The patients charged that this policy violated the First Amendment 
free-speech rights of doctors and patients, and a trial court agreed. On 
appeal, the 9th Circuit unanimously affirmed the ruling.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration is defending the misguided policy of 
its predecessors, arguing that the 9th Circuit's ruling prevents drug 
enforcement officers from "protecting the public."

Nonsense. As the trial judge ruled, providing a patient with an illegal 
substance may well violate the law; merely discussing the possibility does not.

Overturning the 9th Circuit's decision would also damage doctor-patient 
relationships in every state that allows medical marijuana, including 
Nevada. "This case is about doctors providing honest and accurate medical 
advice to patients and the government wanting to censor that advice and 
leave patients to the Internet, their friends and back alley information in 
order to make medical decisions," Graham Boyd, an ACLU attorney who's 
representing patients, told The Associated Press.

Mr. Boyd is right. The high court should refuse to hear the case.
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