Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2005 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: Arthur Max, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) SLUGGISH SALES MAY STOP LEGAL DUTCH POT AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Dutch Health Ministry, unhappy with legal sales of medical marijuana through pharmacies, will re-evaluate its program later this year and may close it, a spokesman said Monday. In a country where unauthorized marijuana has been available easily for decades, the government was surprised to find that prescription marijuana produced under stringent quality controls has been far less successful than predicted, Health Ministry spokesman Bas Kuik said. The Dutch were considering their reassessment as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that users of medical marijuana could be prosecuted under federal law even if their doctors had prescribed it legally according to state law. Official intolerance in the United States for marijuana still raises eyebrows in the Netherlands, where marijuana is accessible to any adult in "coffee shops" - so called to maintain the fiction of legality. In the shops, the sale of small quantities of marijuana remains technically illegal, but it is tolerated by the authorities. "It's a witch hunt; that's what they do in the United States," said Marcel de Wit, who until two years ago grew marijuana under license from the Dutch government for medicinal purposes. The government is selling less than a third of the marijuana it thought it would and is losing money, prompting the health minister to call for new studies on whether the program should be discontinued or modified, Kuik said. After an exhaustive study, the government set up the Bureau of Medicinal Cannabis to supply standardized and regulated marijuana that underwent quality control, especially for patients suffering chronic pain from multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, neuralgia and cancer. Sales began in September 2003 and soon fell flat. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager