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. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex