Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005
Source: Republican, The (Springfield, MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Republican
Contact:  http://www.masslive.com/republican/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3075
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Angel Raich)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOT REEFER MADNESS

In the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, Congress classified
marijuana as a dangerous and illegal drug that has no benefits.

In 1996, voters in California passed a medical marijuana law allowing
people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana with a doctor's
recommendation to ease pain. For a federal government that has been
waging a decades-long war on drugs without success, it is difficult to
admit that there might be some benefit in marijuana use.

As a result, the Bush administration turned the war on drugs into a
war on sick people.

John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, said the California law
"seriously undermines Congress' comprehensive scheme for the
regulation of dangerous drugs." In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the strict federal drug laws prevail over the
California law, a decision that will allow federal authorities to
prosecute sick people if they use medical marijuana. The Supreme Court
usually has the final word in such disputes, but the ruling left the
door open for Congress. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3
majority, did not endorse the ban on medical marijuana, but instead
made it clear that it is a concern of Congress.

Congress should amend the drug control act to allow the medical use of
marijuana. This problem is homegrown. Congress has failed to amend the
drug control act in 25 years, despite studies by the Institute of
Medicine, the American Medical  Association, the New England Journal
of Medicine and others that testify to the  benefits of marijuana. It
is safer than many of the common medications that  doctors prescribe
to treat patients.

Fears that medical marijuana will lead to an increase in the
recreational use of the drug or put young people on a path to a
lifetime of drug abuse are silly.  As we've noted, the sky will not
fall and the nation won't go to pot. Marijuana has been studied as a
possible treatment for nearly a dozen conditions or illnesses,
including AIDS, multiple sclerosis,  chemotherapy-related nausea and
glaucoma. When other treatments have failed to  provide relief from
pain and suffering, patients should be allowed to use  marijuana with
the approval of a doctor without fear that a federal agent will  knock
on the door.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake