Pubdate: Sat, 04 Dec 2004
Source: Cortez Journal, The (CO)
Copyright: 2004 The Cortez Journal
Contact: 
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/contact_form.asp?email_id=editor!cortezjour
Website: http://www.cortezjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3602
Author: Katharhynn Heidelberg, Journal Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL POT OR NOT? HIGH COURT TO DECIDE

Area medical and legal authorities agree that the federal government
should limit interference with state's rights, but differ when it
comes to medicinal marijuana - an issue so complex that it is now
before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Colorado voters passed Amendment 20 in 2000, which allows limited
marijuana use for specifically defined "debilitating medical
conditions," such as cancer, HIV or glaucoma.

Patients must obtain recommendations from licensed physicians and
apply to the state for a Medical Marijuana Registry card allowing them
to possess no more than 2 ounces of marijuana or no more than six
marijuana plants.

According to registry statistics kept by the state health department,
there are an estimated 502 medical marijuana registry cardholders in
Colorado, five of whom live in Montezuma County

To date, 10 other states have medicinal marijuana laws, but all could
be affected by the government's challenge to California's law, pending
before the Supreme Court.

The government is challenging a 2003 ruling of the U.S. 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals, which according to CNN, held that prosecuting
medical marijuana users is unconstitutional when the drug is not sold
or transported across state lines.

Arguments began in late November, with a ruling expected by June
2005.

"I think physicians mostly think this is something the federal
government should stay out of," Cortez general practitioner Leonard
Cain, M.D. said Wednesday. "I think it's interesting that a so-called
conservative administration would be trying to impose a federal law
over state's rights."

States' rights were also the issue for state Rep. Mark Larson,
R-Cortez and state Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, both of whom said the
higher court should not overturn state laws governing medicinal marijuana.

"While the citizens of each state passed the medical marijuana issue,
the federal government is still saying it has jurisdiction over those
people. I think it's appropriate the Supreme Court address that,"
Larson said.

Isgar concurred.

"I think that if the state has laws that regulate that, the federal
government shouldn't try to overturn them," he said. "But it (medical
marijuana) shouldn't be used to get around the law. There has to be a
real medical need."

Larson agreed there must be a compelling medical reason, but added:
"I'm of the opinion that we should mitigate pain and suffering every
way we can and not exclude remedies."

Cain said marijuana does alleviate chronic pain, though he hadn't seen
much research explaining how.

"There's something in our bodies (endocanabonoid receptors) that
responds to these substances and presumably, it modifies
neurotransmission and reduces pain, but I don't think it's well-worked
out how that happens," he said. "...but marijuana definitely has an
anti-nausea effect."

Cain said he limits his registry recommendations to those with very
serious conditions. "It has a medical downside," he said.

And what is that downside?

"It's habit forming," Cain said. "It also is not good for your lungs.
It is smoke. It produces tars and it doesn't get filtered. It's not
benign in terms of causing lung problems." Unlike other prescriptions,
he said, there is no way to monitor a patient's marijuana use.

Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez said the drug is not benign,
period. "I believe marijuana should be unlawful for whatever purpose,"
he said Friday.

Chavez said he supported states' rights. "But I just wish the state
would outlaw (marijuana) in its entirety." He said he also feared
those with registry cards were sharing the drug with unauthorized users.

Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said the state law is not beneficial
because of the controversy it has engendered.

"Until the federal government and states get on the same page, it's
tough on us," Lane said Friday. "All of a sudden, we're allowing a
federal law to be broken and regulated by the state."

Cain said there was little medical evidence that marijuana use
affected anyone other than the user. "You'd be hard pressed to find
any evidence, medical or legal, that anyone's died or been killed
because of another person's using marijuana."

Chavez said however that the drug affects each user differently. "They
could do things they wouldn't do otherwise and it definitely impairs
their driving," he said.

Cain said the negative affects of marijuana pale in comparison to the
drawbacks of legal drugs.

"We legalize the two deadliest drugs we use (alcohol and tobacco) and
have all the rest of them felonies to use," he said. "That's a huge
hypocrisy. We kill tens of thousands of people a year on the highways
because of legal alcohol. And the largest killer of people in this
country is tobacco." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake