Pubdate: Mon, 26 Sep 2005
Source: Eastern Arizona Courier (AZ)
Copyright: 2005, Eastern Arizona Courier
Contact:  http://www.eacourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1674
Author: Lindsey Stockton, staff writer
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( http://www.angeljustice.org/ )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( http://www.mpp.org )
Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( http://www.dea.gov )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA FACES LEGAL, MEDICAL CHALLENGES

In November 1996, Arizona voters approved an initiative (Proposition
200) that endorsed the legal use of marijuana under a doctor's care
and, since that time, the issue has been debated at the state and
federal level.

In recent months, a local man was arrested for having a large number
of marijuana plants, and the Graham County Attorney's office charged
him with possession, transportation and production of marijuana.

The accused has told authorities that he had acquired the plants for
medicinal use under Oregon law, and an interstate agreement allowed
him to have the plants in Arizona.

According to Deputy County Attorney Allen Perkins, such an agreement
is a legal impossibility.

"Oregon cannot tell Arizona how to enforce its laws or what to
enforce," Perkins said. "The same goes for Arizona - it couldn't tell
Oregon or any other state how to enforce its laws. It's an
impossibility of the law."

Under the Arizona statute, those claiming to have marijuana for
medicinal purposes must have a doctor's prescription. Prescribing
marijuana, however, is illegal under federal law.

"To have marijuana for medicinal use, you have to have a prescription
from a licensed doctor," Graham County Attorney Kenneth Angle said.
"Any doctors who prescribe marijuana are breaking the federal law and
likely to lose their license, so doctors are hesitant to write
prescriptions."

When voters passed the initiative in 1996, Governor Fife Symington
threatened to veto the bill, but the Arizona Attorney General's Office
told him that such an action would be a violation of the state
constitution.

As the political battle about medicinal marijuana wages, the medical
battle also continues.

According to http://www.mpp.org, which advocates the use of marijuana, the
plant is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known.
The Web site claims no one has ever died from an overdose, and it has
a wide variety of therapeutic applications, including:

- - Relief from nausea and appetite loss;

- - Reduction of intraocular (within the eye) pressure;

- - Reduction of muscle spasms; and

- - Relief from chronic pain.

The organization claims that marijuana is frequently beneficial in the
treatment of the following conditions:

AIDS - Marijuana can reduce the nausea, vomiting and loss of
appetite caused by the ailment itself and by various AIDS
medications.

Glaucoma - Marijuana can reduce intraocular pressure, alleviating
the pain and slowing - and sometimes stopping - damage to the eyes.

Cancer - Marijuana can stimulate the appetite and alleviate nausea
and vomiting, which are common side effects of chemotherapy treatment.

Multiple sclerosis - Marijuana can limit the muscle pain and
spasticity caused by the disease, as well as relieving tremor and
unsteadiness of gait.

Epilepsy - Marijuana can prevent epileptic seizures in some
patients.

Chronic Pain - Marijuana can alleviate the chronic, often
debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries.

According to the United States Justice Department, the harmful
consequences of smoking marijuana include, but are not limited to,
premature cancer, addiction, coordination and perception impairment, a
number of mental disorders including depression, hostility and
increased aggressiveness, general apathy, memory loss, reproductive
disabilities and impairment to the immune system.

According to an article on FindLaw.com, the Food and Drug
Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S.
Public Health Service have rejected smoking crude marijuana as a medicine.

Medical marijuana has been promoted by advocate organizations for
compassionate use to assist people with cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.
Scientific studies show the opposite is true; marijuana is damaging to
individuals with these illnesses. According to the Justice Department,
people suffering with AIDS and glaucoma are being used unfairly by
groups whose real agenda is to legalize marijuana.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, marijuana can have adverse
effects on the following conditions:

AIDS - Scientific studies indicate marijuana damages the immune
system, causing further peril to already-weakened immune systems. HIV-
positive marijuana smokers progress to full-blown AIDS twice as fast
as nonsmokers and have an increased incidence of bacterial pneumonia.

Cancer - Marijuana contains many cancer-causing substances, many
of which are present in higher concentrations in marijuana than in
tobacco.

Glaucoma - Marijuana does not prevent blindness due to
glaucoma.

In June 2005, the United States Supreme Court ruled that federal
authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors'
orders, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect
users from a federal ban on the drug. The decision is a stinging
defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states -
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon,
Vermont and Washington - to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin